


Lady Jam

by corikane



Category: Pitch Perfect (2012)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-26 01:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/645243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corikane/pseuds/corikane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regionals are over and they barely made the cut. But Beca has more important things to think of - with two people vying for her attention and a roommate from hell.<br/>(No copyright infringement intended.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was almost noon. Beca hadn't really bothered to get up, last night's drama had kept her awake most of the night. Prison, Jesse, then her dad, and Aubrey's impromptu Bellas-meeting had her on edge, she didn't really need any of this. This was exactly what happened when you let people get close, they knew how to screw you up. Who needed that?  
There was a knock at the door, it sounded sort of chipper. Beca had a niggling suspicion who it might be but didn't want to know one way or the other. She let Kimmy Jin get up from her perch at her desk and answer the door. She wasn't surprised when her not-too-friendly roommate said:  
"It's for you, white girl." A glare accompanied her words and Beca looked up at the door, at the same time lifting her earphones from her head.  
There stood Chloe. It wasn't a big surprise, Chloe had the habit of showing up whenever she felt the need to apologize for Aubrey - the whole group acknowledged that she felt this need often, all members has had visits from the redhead in the few months they've been singing together. She lifted her hand now, waving her fingers at her fellow Bella and smiling that smile of hers, the one nobody seemed able to resist, her blue eyes sparkling.  
"Hey," she said.  
"Hey," Beca answered, her less-than-shiny personality coming through and reavealing her natural snarky self. Beca flinched, she knew Chloe meant well.  
The redhead stepped into the room hesitantly, giving Beca's roomie a dazzling smile before turning her attention back to Beca.  
"So... last night, right?" She said, nodding to herself. Beca had to smile despite herself, Chloe was nothing if not sweet and adorable and you couldn't really not... like her.  
"Last night was... certainly out of the ordinary," the brunette confirmed.  
There came a huff from the other side of the room and Kimmy Jin rose from her seat.  
"I'll leave you alone with your girlfriend but I won't be gone long," she said as if in warning and Beca made a questioning face but before she could follow up with whatever was on her mind, her roommate had left their dwelling. Beca looked at Chloe who gave a little nervous laugh.  
"Your roommate's..." but she failed to come up with a word.  
"I know," because there really was no explanation needed. They smiled at each other.  
"So, what're you listening to?" Chloe pointed toward Beca's earphones.  
"A mix I made last week. Wanna hear?" Chloe nodded and came over. She sat down at the edge of Beca's bed, without any regard for personal space whatsoever and took the earphones from Beca. She put them over her ears and listened, intently. After a short while she nodded her head, her eyes did that dazzling thing again and her face lit up in a smile. Beca didn't need any other confirmation that she did good, just that smile, it really said everything.  
Chloe kept listening to the song, not just for ten seconds like Jesse had done the week before but for the whole song, singing along after a while, she had a lovely voice. Beca had noticed that their voices sounded really great together during that awkward shower... concert. It hadn't been the only thing she had noticed at that occasion and she had been lucky that she had heard anything beside the hammering of her heart in her chest, the blood rushing through her to set her whole body on fire. But she had pushed all this to the back of her mind, not ready to face any implications - yes, she could flirt with Chloe over it like she did during the aca-initiation. But really no one else needed to know that it happened or that she now thought about it, while alone with Chloe in her dorm room, as the redhead was listening to her music, singing, smiling.  
What the hell was happening here?  
Beca cleared her head from her thoughts and sat up. She tried to bring some space between herself and Chloe by scooting down to the end of the bed while she let Chloe have the spot next to her equipment. Chloe looked questioningly at her but Beca gave her a reassuring smile.  
After a while, Chloe lifted the earphones from her head.  
"This is really good. You got more?" She couldn't have said anything more enticing just now and Beca busied herself by playing her favorite mixes to her favorite Bella. They had a good time, listening to music, talking about it. Chloe even volunteered some good ideas for songs Beca had never thought about. They ordered pizza and when it came sat down to just eat. But there was still that conversation about Aubrey to be had although Beca had forgotten by now.  
"Listen, about last night: Aubrey... she doesn't always speak for all the Bellas, 'kay? I mean she is the boss and... a lot of times she's right but... not about this one. I think we should try some new things and you have really good ideas. What I just heard... really, you totes rock." Beca blushed at the compliment.  
"Thanks, Chlo. It's... you said it, Aubrey is the boss. I just wish..." Beca moved her hands in some of the motions of their routine, even her sign-language looked sarcastic.  
"I know. I wish I could... reign her in but since she's taken over... she's become this total control freak. I mean, it's kind of understandable with what happened at the finals last year. She needs control but... sometimes..." Chloe looked sad, and this was a first. The redhead was usually such a positive person, always enthusiastic. This twist with Aubrey seemed to touch her on a deeper level than Beca would have guessed at.  
"You two are pretty close, aren't you?" The brunette asked. The look from Chloe's eyes was sheltered which was another first, then she nodded. She dropped her gaze for a moment.  
"Our last Bella's captain, Alice, was... she was hard on everyone, really, but Aubrey and I took quite the bashing every single time. Maybe it was because we were the youngest but I think she just didn't like us at all. So, we bonded, instantly. We used to rehearse together, just..." Chloe fell silent. Then she looked up at Beca and confessed what she had never told a living soul: "I had a huge crush on Bree for most of my aca-career. But I seem to be getting over it now." There was another fleeting sad look and then she smiled again. Beca nodded, she hadn't expected anything like this to come out but she wasn't as shocked as she could have been. She took Chloe's hand, pressed it for a moment then let go again.  
"You're not surprised?" Chloe asked.  
"I don't know. I mean, you two... I don't know, Chlo," Beca really didn't know what to say. Had she pegged Chloe for a lesbian? No, not really but then, she never said she was a lesbian, she had just confessed to a crush. And Beca could understand crushes on girls, she had had her share of those. That was nothing to get agitated about and Aubrey was... well, she was at least good-looking. And there were probably some other appealing characteristics when you got to know the blonde better, Beca just didn't know Aubrey that well, or at all. "She's a little too wound up for my taste but... you know her better than I do," she finally said.  
"I thought I did but... she's changed. I'm her co-captain, I should have some say but she mainly just ignores me." Beca reached over the pizza box and rubbed Chloe's forearm, she really wasn't good at this but she wanted to give the other girl some comfort. Chloe smiled up at her in thanks.  
"So, this crush... you are going out with guys, though, aren't you?"  
"Yeah, sure. Guys are fun... I mean, most of the time. It just gets exhausting when they want to be exclusive and act like they were the boss of me... I can't stand that. But I like girls, too. I mean, I haven't done much with girls, just very standard fooling around but it's... good, it's nice, it's... pretty awesome, actually." Beca nodded, a little lost in her own thoughts.  
"You never kissed a girl?" Chloe asked and Beca looked up at her in surprise. She shook her head.  
"No, I... no." She tried to smile but it wasn't very convincing.  
"You don' think... I mean, you're not one of those people who think it's wrong for two girls - or two boys - to be together, right? You're not a phobe," the last sentence was more of a statement than a question and Beca confirmed it with another shake of her head.  
"No, I'm not a phobe... I just... I haven't got... a lot of experience, one way or another," she confessed.  
"Really? What about that Jesse-kid? Don't tell me he hasn't tried to put the moves on you yet?" Chloe sounded incredulous. Beca blushed but shook her head once more.  
"No, I mean, he tried to kiss me but... we didn't." Chloe looked at Beca curiously.  
"Are you into him? And I'm not asking because of the Bellas and that... vow Aubrey's come up with. Just... curious," she stated.  
"I like Jesse, he's... well, he's great, good-looking, thoughtful... and for some strange reason, he's into me, so..."  
"Just because a guy is into you, Beca, doesn't mean you have to be into him. You know that, right?" Her blue eyes were very serious now.  
"I know, Chloe. It's not just that, I really like him... only... well, last night he called my dad to bail me out and... I got pissed at him and yelled at him. I mean, what else was he to do, right?"  
"Well, he could have talked to us. I think between all of us we would have been able to bail you out. I... well, I wanted to..." Beca looked at Chloe expectantly. "I wanted for us to go to the police station but Aubrey wouldn't hear of it."  
"Ah, of course. She probably thought that being hit on by a bar brawler like Cameron would teach me better than to get into a fight," the DJ nodded in understanding.  
"Cameron?" Chloe asked, big-eyed.  
"Oh, she was charming. She actually thought I was a flight attendent and asked if she could be my captain on our love plane," Chloe bit her lip but the laughter escaped anyway. "She said she was gonna find me when she came out but you know how those women are... first they want to fly to the moon with you and when they're finally out they have found someone better in their cellmate and gone monogamous."  
"Stop it, Mitchell, you're killing me," Chloe was laughing hard and Beca joined her.  
"Wait until Aubrey finds out I gave Cameron her number," that had Chloe pushing Beca over on the bed and Beca lay back into her pillows. It took them a few minutes to calm down again, Beca's eyes fell close for a moment and when she opened them, she found the redhead looking at her.  
"Are you tired?"  
"I didn't sleep much last night, not with all the things that happened," Beca confirmed and Chloe nodded. She closed the empty pizza box and put it on Beca's desk chair, the desk being too crowded with the DJ's equipment.  
"It's alright, close your eyes," Chloe told Beca.  
"You don't have to leave, I can just..."  
"I wasn't going to leave," Chloe interrupted and climbed over Beca onto the bed. She spooned the brunette. "You know what is really good for falling asleep? When somebody holds you," Beca looked suspiciously over her shoulder at her friend.  
"You mean as in cuddling?"  
"It's okay, just close your eyes, relax." Beca reluctantly lay her head down and closed her eyes. She felt Chloe's hand brush her hair from her temple, her fingernails lightly raking into her hair. It was a strange feeling, calming yet somehow it also gave Beca goosebumps. "Just relax, let it all go," Chloe said, her hand carressing Beca's cheek, then moving over her shoulder down her arm.  
"You're not just trying to cop a feel, are you?" Beca joked.  
"If I was trying to cop a feel you wouldn't have to ask, you would know," Chloe answered confidently. "And now shut up and relax."  
"Yes, sir," Beca answered. She was convinced that she wouldn't fall asleep, not as long as there was someone watching her, touching her. She had a hard time trusting anyone and she wasn't the type to let someone tell her to sleep and then do it. She was... and then Chloe started singing a lullaby, something so low and soothing that Beca found herself drifting off despite herself.


	2. Chapter 2

It was almost midnight when Kimmy JIn slipped into the room she shared with Beca and found a new thing to hate about her roommate: sleepovers. Given, this was better than having some random guy over like that Jesse-kid who smiled too much and tried to be pleasant but was really everything Kimmy Jin hated in an unconsciously priviledged white male but still... This room was already too crowded for two people, inviting a third person was just inconsiderate.  
Kimmy Jin rolled her eyes, still she moved very quietly around the room so as not to wake either Beca or her friend. It wasn't long before she was settled and drifted off to sleep herself.

It was about two hours later when Chloe stirred. She hadn't meant to fall asleep with Beca. She had just wanted to make Beca relax, to have her fall into a restful slumber but then she had drifted off herself, quite unwanted. And she hadn't even been tired at all, knowing that she had an essay due by Monday and hadn't written a single word of it yet. Her whole mission of going to Beca and apologizing for Aubrey had taken longer than she would have anticipated, with Beca letting her listen to her music and eating pizza and... talking about things. She didn't even know where that confession about Aubrey had come from but she had felt that Beca wouldn't judge her, and that she would never tell anyone. Anyway, her feelings for Aubrey had changed so much during these last few weeks. There was little left of her infatuation, but she was still her friend. She would always be Aubrey's friend. But she also liked Beca. Chloe looked down at the sleeping girl, her face illuminated by what little light fell through the window.  
Chloe smiled, then shook her head slightly.  
'I should go,' she thought and tried to get away from Beca and off the bed without rousing her friend. But this proved to be an impossible task as she had been holding Beca in her arms, Beca's own left hand having gripped the forearm that lay across her stomach. Chloe tried to carefully extricate herself from Beca but her friend woke.  
"What...?" She mumbled. Chloe leaned down to Beca's ear.  
"Shhhhh, it's okay. It's just me, I should go," Chloe whispered. Beca blinked a few times, obviously wondering how Chloe had ended up in her bed, then remembering and turning toward her.  
"Why? No, you can stay," she whispered back. "It's late, isn't it?" She looked over to Kimmy Jin who was sound asleep.  
"Past two," Chloe said. "But it's okay, I really need to go." She tried to scoot to the end of the bed to get up but Beca grabbed her arm.  
"Chloe," she said a little sharper than she had intended to. They were both sitting up now, facing each other. Kimmy Jin mumbled something but didn't seem to fully wake before she turned and fell back to sleep. "I'm not letting you walk over campus alone at this hour, so either lay back down and get some sleep or we're both getting up and I walk you to your dorm." Beca said.  
"And who would be walking you back to yours after you brought me there?" Chloe asked, smiling a little about Beca's concern.  
"Exactly my point, so lay down again, go back to sleep. It's not like you have places to be on a Sunday morning, or do you?" Chloe shook her head. "Good," Beca lay back down, and as she was still holding Chloe's arm, she pulled her with her. They settled back into the position they had lain in earlier, Chloe spooning Beca and holding her tight.  
"Is this okay?" Chloe asked.  
"It's okay and now shut up and relax," Beca groused but there was a small smile that played across her lips that belied her mood.  
"Yes, sir," Chloe answered the command and they both closed their eyes, falling back asleep easily.

The next time Beca woke was when the door to her room closed. For a moment, she thought it had been Chloe but then she felt her warm presence behind her and a look at the bed across from hers confirmed that it had been Kimmy Jin who had fled the confined space of their dwelling.  
Beca sighed, then she grumbled when she heard her telephone vibrate on the shelf behind her - and more importantly behind Chloe who woke from the sound, naturally.  
"Mhhhhmmmm," she made. It was a comfortable sound, like a kitten being treated to her favorite kind of bellyrub. "Good morning," she murmured and gave Beca a soft satisfied smile.  
"You look like you had a good night's sleep," Beca offered and Chloe nodded as her friend reached over her for her phone which was still vibrating. A call, at the break of dawn - okay, it was almost 9 but still, it was Sunday! And it was her mom. Beca frowned.  
"Bad news?" Chloe asked.  
"My mom," she answered the phone with a push of a button and put it to her ear.  
"Hey mom," she greeted. Chloe was about to get up but Beca stopped her just like she did the night before. She gave a little shake of the head and Chloe settled back down.  
"Hello, daughter of mine who never calls," Grace Thomas greeted Beca, she sounded altogether too cheerful for so early in the morning. But that was her mom, she was an enthusiastic person. It occured to Beca that Chloe and Grace would most probably like each other if they were ever to meet.  
"I did call you last week, didn't I?" Beca asked.  
"Yeah, well. As I hear, things have happened since then. My very own daughter got arrested and didn't deem it necessary to inform me of that fact," Grace sounded a little less cheerful now but not nearly as pissed as her dad had been when he had to bail her out of prison.  
"Dad called you?" Beca groused.  
"Yeah, well. There are those rare occasions when your parents do communicate," her mother gave back.  
"That would be every time I screw up," Beca stated.  
"Which is not often, fortunately. But what happened? Your dad said you got into a fight over some guy? That doesn't sound like you at all."  
"I didn't fight over some guy, a friend needed my help and I... well, I lended a helping hand," Beca said and felt Chloe stifle a laugh behind her. She half-turned to look at her friend who smiled proudly at her.  
"And that helping hand destroyed a window worth $ 600? Maybe we should insure that hand?" Beca rolled her eyes at her mother's words.  
"Actually the hand just hit a chin, the trophy destroyed the window."  
"You won a trophy? Ken never mentioned that," there was something akin to pride in her mother's voice now and the brunette hated to bust the bubble but she had to.  
"Let's say I borrowed the trophy from the guys who won," she explained further.  
"And you used it to smash a window?"  
"That was an accident, and I'm pretty sure I mentioned that to dad," Beca defended herself.  
"Well, I guess it couldn't have been helped then. You are okay, though, aren't you?" Beca smiled.  
"Yeah, I'm okay. The hand is a little sore from the punch but otherwise... all good."  
"Well, I'm glad. How was prison?" Beca once again rolled her eyes and as if in answer she heard her mother laugh.  
"Prison was alright, much more comfortable than I would have thought."  
"Tell her about your new friend," Chloe suggested with a smile.  
"Who was that?" Her mother immediately asked, having heard a voice in the background.  
"A friend," Beca answered. Chloe made a waving motion with her fingers. Beca slapped at them and Chloe laughed.  
"A friend? Who happens to be in your room at 8.50 in the morning - on a Sunday? Since when are you entertaining that early?" Beca sighed.  
"I'm not entertaining so early, I entertained rather late, so... Chloe stayed over," she already knew what would come next and she mentally prepared herself for the question.  
"Chloe, huh? I thought it might have been that young man your dad mentioned. Are you hopping the fence, oh, daughter of mine?"  
"I'm not you, Grace, no fence-hopping has occured here - yet," she added just to tease which earned her a raised eyebrow from Chloe. Beca only rolled her eyes again and Chloe giggled.  
"Yet, that sounds promising. But seriously, you know that whatever kind of choices you make in your life, I'm right behind you, okay? So, if this girl rocks your boat, go for it, Beca," her mother assured her of her support.  
"I'm so not having this conversation with you, mom. I know you will be supporting but... so far, this virginal mattress of mine has yet to see some action so don't hold your breath for any kind of coming out in the near future, okay?" Beca was aware of the blush that crept all over her face and body. She didn't like talking about her sex life, especially not with either of her parents (though her mom was decidedly more cool about the whole thing, having discovered that she herself swung both ways not so long ago) but having Chloe listen to this conversation was even worse. "I'll keep you posted, though," she promised her mom, ending this part of their conversation effectively.  
"Just know that I love you - and I'm proud of you... despite your detour to prison," Grace offered.  
"Thank you, mom," Beca breathed deeply, having steered the rough waters for now.  
"Well, I don't want to keep you any longer... since you got company to get back to,"  
"Mom!" Beca warned but the older woman just laughed.  
"Your dad said that you haven't been to dinner with him and his family yet... keep up the good work, soldier. I cherish your loyalty. But maybe you can put in a lunch with just your dad one of these days?" Beca sighed.  
"I'll see what I can do. I just don't want him all in my business, he tends to look at me like I'm still that 7 year-old that he left and is disappointed when I turn out to be a woman with a brain," the young woman complained.  
"That's just him being a man and a dad... try to make your peace with him, Beca."  
"It's not like you have," Beca reasoned.  
"He cheated on me, not you. I appreciate your loyalty but your father is one of the good guys, okay? He tries, Beca, he really does." They had had this conversation before, and Beca could see her mother's point. The problem was that her mom didn't see her point: because her dad had cheated on her, too. He had made two step-children - and that, in Beca's book, was cheating.  
"Whatever," she said and heard her mother sigh. "I'll see if I'm free for lunch one of these days, okay?"  
"Thank you. And I'll call you in a couple of days to remind you."  
"I'm sure you will. Love you, mom," Beca said as goodbye and received the same in return. She disconnected her phone and looked at Chloe who had a thoughtful expression on her face.  
"You and your mom are close, aren't you?" She finally asked.  
"We bonded over the fact that my dad is a cheating douchebag," Beca joked but Chloe's expression told her to please be serious. "Yeah, we are. My mom's great, very liberal. You would like her," she concluded.  
"I think, I already do," Chloe said smiling.  
"And you've got things in common, she likes chicks, too," Beca grinned. Chloe laughed.  
"Your mom's bisexual?"  
"Very much so since she found out a couple of years back. At least her taste in women is not as bad as her taste in men, but she likes to play the field. A morning after can be rather awkward but she deserves some fun. She had a hard time getting over my dad, and he left her twelve years ago. And as I said, her taste in men since..." Beca made a face.  
"Your mom sounds great, maybe I'll meet her at some point," Chloe said. She sat up and lifted her arms over her head to stretch. "Ungh, now I have to get home. Aubrey probably wonders where I've been the whole night and I still got to write an essay," Chloe sighed.  
Beca nodded though she had hoped that Chloe and she could get breakfast before the redhead would head back to her own dorm and the apartment she shared with the Bellas captain.  
"Well, if you must...," she said and Chloe looked at her. For a moment it seemed they both wanted to say something - maybe about last night, the kind of comfort they had felt, or a reassurance that secrets shared with each other were safe, maybe they just wanted to say that they would like to do something like this again, but no words were spoken.  
Chloe left a short time later and Beca felt something like loneliness settle into the space she had left.


	3. Chapter 3

The following week was back to business as usual, Beca tried to concentrate a little on her studies but found that this was quite challenging considering that she wasn't really interested in a higher education. It wasn't that the classes she had picked - or rather the classes her dad had picked and she had consented to - were difficult to follow, in fact, they were mostly boring which irked Beca more than a true challenge. Afternoons and evenings were filled with Bellas practice and Aubrey actually insisted on the same lame songs to the same lame choreo. The only time Beca looked forward to was her downtime, when she could do mixes, when she could just sit and listen to music or the time she could spend with either Chloe or Jesse. And considering the amount of time she spent at Bellas practice it was a lot more Chloe these days.  
But that was okay, the redhead kept her mood up. She was enthusiastic to a fault, talked about her classes and things she had learned or found fascinating - not all of it interested Beca but she liked listening to Chloe's voice even if she didn't know what she was saying - and then there was music. The redhead knew a lot, she may concentrate on different aspect of it than Beca but she knew her jams. She would slip a flash drive into Beca's hands and say: "Listen to this, it's awesome," and then smile at her. And Beca listened, and Beca liked, sometimes more than she was going to led on because there were some choices on these drives that would completely and irrevocably ruin her street cred.  
She was listening to one of Chloe's unexpected offerings during an even more unexpected break on Thursday afternoon - a class had been cancelled and she should have been reading Nabokov's Lolita. But instead, she sat at her favorite spot on the commons, leaning against a tree, her eyes closed, listening to Chloe's idea of "awesome." And she smiled, too. It was a rare mix of songs put in no apparent order that still captured the personality of the giver. Same giver plopped down on the grass next to Beca and startled the brunette slightly when she took her laptop from her legs.  
"Chloe!" Beca exclaimed as the redhead pretty unceremoniously put her head where Beca's laptop had just been. "Are you alright?" Beca put her headphones down.  
"Meh... Long day and I totally screwed up another essay. What're you listening to?"  
"Some songs that a certain redhead has given me," Chloe perked up immediately at hearing this.  
"And? Do you like them?" Beca smiled slightly but weighd her head from left to right and back. Chloe laughed.  
"You do like them. Good, there's more where they came from," Chloe promised and smiled up at Beca from her lying position on her lap. Beca smiled down, their eyes locked for a moment, Beca as always wondering at the vibrant color of those eyes - there was nothing in the world to compare to this kind of blue, it was all encompassing and warm and a perfect representation of Chloe's personality.  
"Hey, guys," another person plopped down on the lawn close to them. It was Jesse, Beca looked up at him and smiled.  
"Hey, what're you up to? I thought you had a class in... what again?"  
"It was cancelled. Seems there's a bug going around at faculty meetings and so, no history of film and I was to give an awesome presentation on The Godfather," Jesse complained. He looked at Beca with hurt puppy eyes and she remembered that they haven't actually seen each other since the ICCA Regionals - when she yelled at him.  
"Well... then you will give an even better presentation next week, right?" He rolled his eyes.  
"I guess," he groused.  
Beca looked down at Chloe who seemed to doze with her eyes closed.  
"Ah, listen Jesse, I... know we have texted and all but I think... I wanted to apologize for last Saturday, for yelling at you. It was just... my dad... we don't have the easiest of relationships as it is. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, you meant well," Beca said.  
"I'm sorry if I made things more difficult between you and your dad, Beca. But I didn't know what else to do," he explained. He looked at Chloe whose head was still in Beca's lap. "And I'm sorry to say this but it wasn't like the Bellas were much help."  
"Aca-scuse me!" Chloe sat up using Aubrey's favorite expression. She turned toward Jesse. "A simple: I'm driving over to the station, does anyone want to come with, would have had your car packed with Bellas. But most of us came with Aubrey and... well, she refused to go bail a Bella out of prison," Chloe defended herself and her friends.  
"You mean, she refused to bail Beca out of prison," Jesse made a point.  
"If you believe she would have done it even for me, you're mistaken. Aubrey has... principles and one is that if you get yourself into trouble you have to live with the consequences. She's been brought up that way but that doesn't mean that she doesn't like Beca. Or that she sees her as less of a Bella than everyone else," Chloe defended the Bellas captain, a habit that was hard to break even though her crush had all but vanished these last few days.  
"It's okay, Chlo, I know that Aubrey is not exactly fond of me," Beca said and touched Chloe's arm to calm her down. Chloe looked at Beca for a moment.  
"I know Bree can be hard on people but she's not harder on anyone than she is on herself," she said with a sad expression. Beca nodded and smiled.  
"Maybe she should just drop the act and realize that there are people in your group who have a better understanding of music than she does," Jesse chimed in, ignoring the fact that the discussion about Aubrey was over.  
"That's Bella-politics and none of your business, Jesse," Chloe cooly informed the Treble. She got to her knees and looked at Beca.  
"I've got another class, see you at practice," and with those words she was on her feet and strode away. Beca looked after her then at Jesse with an annoyed expression.  
"That really wasn't necessary, you konw? Chloe is my friend, it's not her fault that Aubrey is... how she is."  
"I know, it's just... you are obviously frustrated about this..."  
"I shouldn't have talked to you about Bellas-business," Beca interrupted Jesse. "You think you know how it is but you don't. Aubrey is very different from Bumper."  
"Well, he's got a big head on his shoulders just like Aubrey," Jesse said but Beca shook her head.  
"Aubrey wants what's best for the Bellas, Bumper just wants what's best for Bumper. There's the difference. Aubrey at least means well."  
"Yeah, well, Bumper at least let's all the Trebles decide on songs and choreo. He's not a total control freak."  
"Lucky you," Beca just said and then put her headphones back over her ears, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree. Jesse rolled his eyes, clenched his jaw in frustration. He didn't mean to fight with Beca - again. He rapped at her leg and she opened her eyes again.  
"Sorry?" He mouthed and she took her headphones from her ears once more. "I don't wanna fight, Beca. Hey, how about some lunch, I could sure use some nutrition. You?" She smiled at him.  
"Yeah, why not. You can tell me about that presentation of yours. The Godfather, is that the one where everyone gets shot and the audience dies of boredom?" She grinned at his incredulous expression.  
"Don't even joke about that," he warned as they both got up to seek something to eat.

Chloe was late for practice and that wasn't like her at all. Beca kept looking at the door while Aubrey tried to get everyone do the "one-two-ahhhh"-thing with little success. The tall blonde was waiting for her fellow captain, too, as Chloe was better with teaching the moves of the choreo and Aubrey wanted it still a little more - expressive. When the Bellas once again failed to produce a collective "ahhhh," she caught Beca looking at the door.  
"Have you seen Choe today?" she asked. Everybody looked at Beca and as they still stood in a huddle this felt kind of awkward to the brunette.  
"Yeah, this afternoon between classes," she said.  
"Did she say that she was going to be late?" Beca shook her head.  
"No, she..." And that was when the doors opened to reveal the redhead. She walked into the room which was just the first clue that something was wrong, Chloe rarely just walked anywhere. There was usually a spring in her step and Amy couldn't help commenting on it:  
"Who killed her puppy?"  
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late," Chloe said and took off her jacket. She put it over one of the chairs and looked expectantly at everyone. "What did I miss?"  
"What did you miss? Well, first of all, you missed the beginning of practice," Aubrey informed her in that rather louder-than-necessary voice of hers.  
"I said I was sorry," Chloe said but without much enthusiasm. Beca went over to her.  
"Are you alright?" She asked in low tones so that only Chloe could hear. The redhead looked at her and Beca looked into the usually shiny eyes but they were shadowed. But then Chloe blinked and looked back at Aubrey.  
"Chloe, can I talk to you for a minute?" the captain asked her. She went a couple of paces and Chloe followed trying and failing to give Beca a reassuring smile.  
And then Aubrey and Chloe were talking in low tones, that got louder as Aubrey got more agitated.  
"I'm aware of that, Chlo, but sometimes you have to push through that. You're stronger than that," she argued. Chloe looked up at her, her jaw clenched.  
"I just can't, Bree. I hurts," she said defeated. From her standpoint by the others, Beca could see tears starting to run down Chloe's cheeks.  
"What...?" But in that moment Chloe stepped away from her best friend, covering her eyes with her hand to not let anyone see that she was crying. "I'm sorry," she excused herself, picked up her jacket and left again.  
"Chloe!" Beca called after her but as Chloe didn't stop she followed her.  
"Beca Mitchell, don't you dare leave practice early," Aubrey called after her.  
"Try to stop me!" Beca challenged over her shoulder but didn't give the whole thing another thought. She ran after Chloe.


	4. Chapter 4

"Chloe, wait up," Beca called after the redhead who was already at her car. She was about to open her door but stopped as she waited for the younger woman to catch up with her. Beca could see the tracks of tears on her cheeks as she came to the passenger side of Chloe's mini.  
"Get in," Chloe said and they both slid into the car. They just sat there for some moments, Chloe looking at the car keys in her hand with a forlorn expression.  
"Chloe, are you alright?" The redhead shook her head in answer.  
"My throat is killing me," she said and Beca could now easily detect a rasp in her friend's voice. "It's not...I mean, it's not just that. I feel...," but she shook her head and went silent. Beca reached her hand over to her friend.  
"We should get ice-cream," she said. Chloe looked up at her. "For your throat, and a movie and then we're going to your place and just... relax a little." She smiled at Chloe and got a very small answering smile from the redhead. Chloe nodded. She started the car and they left campus.

Later they were sitting on Chloe's bed and watched The Little Mermaid. It was Chloe's favorite movie and Beca didn't have the heart to tell her that she hated animated movies even more than those with real actors. But Beca felt that this wasn't important at the moment, the only thing that mattered was that Chloe felt better. She was sitting next to Beca, enchanted by the movie and eating ice cream. She smiled, and that was progress.  
"You're not watching the movie, Beca," Chloe said and the brunette realized that she had been staring at her friend. She blushed a little and then turned back to the screen, and to an animated redhead who suddenly had grown legs.  
"I thought she was a mermaid," Beca exclaimed.  
"Yes, but she wished for legs. And now she can walk but not speak. Have you not been paying attention?" Chloe asked playfully and grabbed the remote. "Should I play it again?"  
"No... I mean, no need. I'll catch up." Chloe stopped the movie.  
"You don't have to watch this with me, you know. It's okay, I have watched it like... too many times. If you'd rather... I don't know, meet with Jesse or go home..."  
"Why would I wanna meet Jesse, we just saw each other this afternoon," Beca exclaimed.  
"I just thought... Jesse is a guy and you're a girl and you two have... I don't know... chemistry? I just thought, maybe, you would rather spend your time with him. See where it is going between you two?" Beca shook her head.  
"If there's something going on between Jesse and me - and that's a very big 'if' - we'll figure it out in time. There's really no rush. But you... you were so upset earlier. You wanna talk about what's bothering you?" Chloe looked at the remote in her hand. She got up and turned off the equipment, extricated the dvd from the player and put it away. She was buying time and both knew it, she could have just turned everything off with a click of a button. When she finally returned to her bed and Beca, her expression was thoughtful.  
"There's been some pressure lately... not just with my studies, though some has to do with it. I'm thinking of continuing here at Barden, my family want me to apply to a more prestigious institution, Princeton, at least, if not Yale or Harvard." Beca's eyes went round. She knew that Chloe was intelligent but this was rather a surprise.  
"And you could," she stated if a little hesitant.  
"Yeah, I could. But... I'd rather stay here and continue with the Bellas. Music is my passion, I don't think I could live without it," she said.  
"Well, this is just a rumor but I think they lifted the ban on music at Ivy League universities," Beca joked. Chloe smiled.  
"It wouldn't be like it is here. I wouldn't be part of the Bellas, you guys really rock my world." This time Chloe's smile took over her whole face including her eyes which were sparkling. Beca had to lower her gaze, she felt impossibly tempted to drown in those orbs. It was a weird sensation, not entirely unwelcome but still weird. And the stirring of butterflies in her stomach didn't help either.  
"We wouldn't be the Bellas without you, you hold us together." It was a whisper and Beca realized too late that she was actually saying it. It was the truth but it shouldn't keep Chloe from achieving her academic goals. "But you shouldn't let that keep you here. You have a great mind, Chloe, you should reach higher... as high as you can," she quickly added. Chloe shook her red mane.  
"That's not what I want, to be honest. I do enjoy my studies, I love thinking and writing about complex issues and the gender studies program here is rather excellent - it's not like I'm not challenged here. I don't love it as much as I love... singing. Music has alway been closest to my heart. That's why I'm still doing it, even with the nodes and Aubrey... well, y'know." Beca nodded in understanding. "The Bellas... I so want for us to be great and I feel that if we... if I could bring Aubrey to listen to some of your mixes, to your ideas, we would be.... great, that is. Cynthia Rose has an amazing voice, Amy is just a bubble of performance wanting to happen, and you... you are the most talented of us all," Beca blushed.  
"I love music, just like you," she said.  
"Yeah, but you also understand music on a deeper level than any of us. Jesse was right this afternoon - even if I wish he would keep out of our business. Aubrey knows that you're better with music, that's why she's fighting you so hard. She doesn't want to lose the Bellas, she wants to prove to Alice - our former captain - that she's capable of leading the group." Beca looked at Choe thoughtfully. This was news to her, though she had known that Aubrey was quite set on making her last year with the Bellas a success, she hadn't know what actually made her tick. If you added what had happened at Lincoln Center last year - Aubrey had to prove herself, to others, yes, but most importantly to herself.  
"Well, I'm not going anywhere, so... if Aubrey should insist on us doing that tired routine... she's leaving next year. We can take over then," Beca smiled. Chloe nodded but it seemed sad.  
"I'll have to get my nodes out, my doctor is quite adamant about it. I could lose my singing voice," Beca looked shocked at this.  
"But..."  
"But if I don't, it'll hurt. Worse than it does now," Chloe nodded, more to herself than for Beca's benefit.  
"I'm so sorry," the brunette said.  
"He wants to do it as soon as possible. But as long as we're in the competition..." Beca reached over and took Chloe's hand in hers. She looked earnestly at Chloe who was looking at their linked hands. Beca had never seen a more beautiful human being. Chloe was amazing, so dedicated, giving, enthusiastic - and good. Beca felt herself wanting to reach out to this singular creature, capture her, hold her - kiss her... A jolt ran through Beca's body at the realization, she gasped. Chloe looked up questioningly.  
"Are you alright, you look a little flushed."  
"I...," Beca shook her head and took her hand back from where it had grasped Chloe's. "I think... you should do what you want to do. Never mind your family, and never mind the Bellas. You have to do what's best for YOU, Chloe. And I'm sure you'll make the right decisions, you're the cleverest person I know." Chloe beamed.  
"Thank you," she said and then leaned over and hugged Beca tightly. The brunette swallowed hard, that hadn't quite been what she had wanted to accomplish with her words. But it felt good, it felt... so good. Beca smiled to herself, then she felt a yawn overwhelm her.  
"Hey, you're tired," Chloe said.  
"Yeah, it's been a long day. I should go." But Chloe shook her head.  
"You're staying here tonight. It's after midnight and you're not going back to your dorm at this hour," she said and her voice didn't leave room for arguments. Beca rolled her eyes, they had been through this before and she knew her arguments from the other night would be thrown back at her if she tried.  
"I have a t-shirt for you if you don't want to sleep in your clothes," the redhead said and got up from her bed. She looked through her closet and finally threw an extra-large shirt at her. "It's Marc's," she explained. Marc was Chloe's sometimes boyfriend. He usually showed up at parties at her side and he was a nice enough fellow - but not really good enough for Chloe in Beca's eyes. Of course, she couldn't really say that there was anybody who was good enough for Chloe but Marc wasn't even... he was a douchebag.  
"Thanks," Beca said without any enthusiasm. Now she had to sleep in his shirt.   
Chloe went to the bathroom and Beca took a light sniff of the garment in her hands. It didn't smell of Chloe's boyfriend at all, it actually smelled like the redhead. Beca buried her nose deeper in it, then self-consciously looked around herself. She shook her head, this was getting ridiculous. When had she ever craved the smell of someone, when had she ever felt the need to touch someone? It was ridiculous, she was Beca Mitchell and she was nothing if not a private person. She didn't play well with others, especially not other women. And she couldn't have a crush on her best friend!

As Aubrey neared the apartment building where she shared a unit with Chloe Beale, she saw the light go out in her friend's bedroom window. She had hoped, Chloe would still be awake, so they could talk. She knew she was hard on the redhead but the truth was that she felt that she couldn't lead the Bellas without her. Chloe had been her best friend for almost three years now, they had moved in with each other after the first.  
She knew that Chloe was hurting, and that her family was putting a fair amount of pressure on her to leave Barden after this year. Chloe was stressed and Aubrey felt bad for her. But she couldn't let all of this get in the way of the Bellas winning the ICCAs. She had to show the world that she was capable of holding it together, she had to show the Trebles, Alice, her father. There was nothing more important for Aubrey at the moment.  
So, when she entered the apartment she listened intently to any sounds from Chloe's room. The redhead sometimes listened to music even after lights out, and if Chloe listened to music she usually would start singing to it, too. But there was no sound. Aubrey walked over to the redhead's bedroom door and rapped lightly on it. No answer. Should she risk it? Chloe wasn't a private person, she sometimes came barging into Aubrey's room quite unannounced and the blonde had never argued about this. Chloe was Chloe, she had no inhibitions, she was open and honest and wished for everybody else to be the same. So, Aubrey opened Chloe's bedroom door and stuck her head in. The room was dark, except for the faint light of a street lamp that stood infront of the building. Aubrey could make out a sleeping form on the bed and wanted to turn as she noticed an additional form behind Chloe's. And it wasn't Marc, or another silhouette of the male occupation. This one was smaller than Chloe but had her arm draped over the redhead's middle. And it didn't take Aubrey a second to recognize the leather band around her wrist. It was Beca. Aubrey stared for a short moment, then she closed the door to Chloe's bedroom silently.  
Aubrey Posen blinked into the dark hall of her apartment. This was a rather surprising and a little disconcerting development. Chloe and Beca? But it could all be quite innocent. It could be. Or it could be something else. Aubrey sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chloe had turned at some point during the night, so when Beca woke the next morning - from the light that fell through the window, it was very early - she was facing her. A smile rushed to Beca's lips and she was quite unable to stop it. Chloe was adorable, especially so in sleep. A lock of hair had found its way across her face and moved with the steady motion of her breathing. Beca just lay and stared, pushing all kinds of thoughts of how this was so not okay for a friend to do out of her mind. She just wanted this moment, she just wanted to look at Chloe for a while longer and then she would get up, get back to life and its demands. She would go day by day, as she did, and she would not think of how sweet her best friend was, of how she made her stomach flutter and her pulse race. That was all idiocy, that wasn't who Beca Mitchell was at all. This person that kept staring at Chloe was an alien, someone Beca had never met.  
Chloe's eyes blinked open and Beca's eyes widened. Had she really forgotten how intense those eyes were? Could she have wished those eyes wouldn't open when they were all Beca was always looking for when she looked across the practice hall? They were amazing and they were smiling at her now.  
"Morning," Chloe's voice rasped.  
"Hey, how's your throat?" Beca asked. Chloe sat up and felt the body part in question, then moved her head around a little.  
"Ahhhhh," she sang a note. It wasn't perfect but it was still early and, of course, she hadn't had time to warm her chords up, so it was pretty good. "Feels better," she said and smiled at Beca.  
"Then my job is done here," the brunette said and sat up as well.  
"You're a great friend, Beca MItchell," Chloe told her. Beca just shrugged her shoulders, she didn't know what to say to this, never having been on the receiving end of such a compliment. "That t-shirt looks good on you, by the way," Chloe complimented her.  
"Not quite my style," she gave back when she saw the imprint she must have missed the night before: the tasmanian devil. "Maybe you should give it to Amy," she grinned and Chloe laughed.  
"No, I'm keeping it. I use it as a sleeping shirt, I don't think Marc even missed it after he first left it here," Chloe said and let her hand wander over the fabric - and thus also over Beca's shoulder. Goosebumps were springing up on Beca's arms, this was not good.  
"How is it going with Marc, anyway?" Beca asked in order to distract herself from Chloe's touch. This time Chloe shrugged.  
"We haven't seen much of each other lately... I think that's the reason why he keeps calling. I just... I feel like I've outgrown him, you know what I mean?"  
"Couldn't say I do. I've never been with anyone long enough to outgrow them. They usually just dumped me over facebook," Beca said and grinned.  
"Ouch," Chloe made. "Assholes," she added and it sounded heartfelt but Beca only laughed.  
"I wouldn't give them the time of day... I wouldn't give them a lot of time off my day, actually. I just... boys seemed so ordinary, music extraordinary. There really was no choice to make," Beca explained.  
"That's why you're such an aca-mazing DJ," Chloe complimented.  
"Yeah, and such a crappy human being," Beca joked.  
"Nonsense, there aren't many people who would have sat through... well, forty-five minutes of a movie they had no interest in just to humor me."  
"You really did want to watch this until the end, didn't you?" Beca asked teasingly.  
"Yeah, I did," Chloe teased back and they both giggled. "I love Sebastian."  
"Was that the prince's name - Sebastian. I mean, he had floppy dark hair..." Beca broke up when Chloe started laughing.  
"Sebastian was the lobster. You didn't pay any attention at all, did you?" Beca grinned sheepishly.  
"Oops."  
"Yeah, oops. I swear you..." But she was interrupted by footsteps in the hall, Aubrey was obviously up already. They both looked at the door as if expecting her to walk in but, of course, she didn't. The footsteps continued to the end of the hall where the kitchen was.  
"Do you think Aubrey knows I'm here?" Beca asked quietly.  
"You don't need to whisper," Chloe informed her and Beca nodded.  
"O'course not."  
"It's possible. I mean, your jacket hangs at the wardrobe." Beca nodded again.  
"Yeah. Is this gonna be awkward?" the brunette asked honestly.  
"She's probably pissed at both of us, so... could be," Chloe answered. She got up from the bed and Beca caught a glimpse of very well-defined legs before she looked away. She had been too tired last night to much appreciate the fact that Chloe was only wearing a tank top and boxers - now, however, it was apparent and quite distracting.  
"I mean, will it be awkward that I slept here?" Beca asked the door, or so it seemed because she was not looking at Chloe who stretched her lithe body before going to the closet.  
"Why would it be? You're just a friend sleeping over, right?" Chloe smiled over her shoulder, not even wondering at the slightly unfocused look Beca gave back.

Aubrey had left before either Beca or Chloe left Chloe's bedroom which meant that any kind of awkwardness was postponed. Beca wouldn't think about the fact that they had actually waited until Aubrey was gone to emerge from Chloe's room. Luckily, this didn't take too long because the Bellas captain had an early class. Beca left in good spirits but as the day was rainy this didn't last too long. She was crossing campus, ignoring the nagging thoughts and questions her mind raised with every step. She wasn't ready to disect her feelings for the redhead, she didn't even have a coffee yet.  
As she neared Baker Hall, she saw a familiar figure emerge. It was Jesse. Beca waved at him but when he didn't see her (he seemed a little preoccupied), she called out:  
"Hey, Jesse!" He turned toward her, not smiling but waiting for her to catch up to him.  
"What are you doing here this early?" Beca asked with a smile.  
"I just wanted to ask if you want to get some breakfast before your first class." Jesse's expression was neutral but that was exactly why Beca was sure that something was bothering him. He usually smiled more.  
"I think I pass. I need to shower and change before I head out," she answered to his invitation.  
"Yeah, Kimmy JIn has mentioned that you never came home last night," he said and frowned. So did Beca when she noticed it.  
"I didn't, I stayed over at Chloe's." When she noticed that she was giving explanations when Jesse didn't have a right to ask for one, she felt a wave of anger raise insight her. Jesse nodded but he didn't seem relieved that she had stayed over at a friend's rather than another boy's. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket.  
"Late night practice," he said. Beca didn't even answer, she felt annoyed by the pout he wasn't able to hide. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other, the tension building. Jesse obviously expected her to tell him what they had done after practice, whether they had gone out or stayed in. He was jealous but Beca was sure it wasn't because she had let anything on - about those vague feelings she herself was too scared to face.  
Jesse took a deep breath, he had come to a decision:  
"There's something you should probably know about your friends. Bumper said that... well, he's convinced that Chloe and Aubrey are more than just friends," his eyebrows rose meaningfully and Beca's anger became quite intense at this moment. How dare he?  
"Are you insane?" She groused at him but before he could answer this question she continued. "First of all, that's bullshit. Second, why do you even listen to that homophobic douchebag. That's probably just a fantasy of his he's nursing when alone. Bumper is an idiot. Why are you listening to anything he is saying?!"  
"He may be an ass most of the time but he's not an idiot, okay? He can be quite observant and I think he may not be that far off where Chloe is concerned. I think she's got a thing for you," it rushed out of Jesse before he could stop it. But he wasn't sorry about it and what was worse, he thought he had a right to warn her about this.  
"So?" Beca gave back. "What if she does? Not that she does because I know that she doesn't. But what would be so bad about it? Chloe and I are adults, we are also friends. We could handle this, and we would handle it between the two of us. It's none of your business. And you shouldn't talk about this, especially not with Bumper. I don't care how much inside he has into people, he's an ass. I can't understand how you can give him any credit. The other day I saw him make fun of Benji when he was walking by some Trebles. Benji is your roommate and I think you also consider him your friend yet you let Bumper and his crew walk all over him! You, Jesse, are a hypocrite!" And with these words she turned and entered Baker Hall. Jesse just stood there, shamed, but also angry. This relationship - or whatever it was with Beca - wasn't going the way he had hoped it would. Was it hopeless?

The day really didn't get any better after this. Beca got a text from Aubrey before her first class, telling everyone that she had decided to suspend Beca and Chloe from the next three practices - until they apologized to the Bellas for just having left practice the night before. Beca growled at her phone. Chloe texted her and they had an argument over whether they should apologize - Chloe was for, Beca not surprisingly against it. Chloe just stopped texting after a while because she felt there really was no point in wanting to convince Beca of something she wasn't ready to do. Jesse started texting that afternoon and Beca contemplated just deleting his first text without reading it. She left it unread but Jesse kept texting her so she finally read his messages. He apologized for what he had said. He also wrote that he had talked to Benji about the boys taunting him and then he had talked to the Trebles about the way they treated his friend. They had promised to lay off Benji. This was at least good news, even though Beca wasn't sure it would help Benji in the long run. There were far more vicious people on campus than the Trebles, jocks, for example. And Jesse couldn't always protect Benji... it was bad enough that there were people here who needed protection.  
Like gays, she contemplated. This brought her to the thoughts she had been trying to push away all day. And that heavy feeling that had settled around her chest after Chloe failed to answer to her last message. She didn't want to fight with Chloe, it felt... aweful. Beca sighed. What was happening to her?  
Beca leaned back on her bed and put her headphones over her ears, trying to cut off all thought, all questions and to just lose herself in the music. But for some reason, this wasn't working as it used to. Music had always been her refuge but as David Guetta's Titanium came on, she thought of Chloe. She thought of this morning, how they had sat and talked and then of how Chloe had gotten up and... Beca was shaking he head.  
She reached over to the shelf with her venyl and took down her phone. She searched for a number in her contacts and finally made the connection.  
"Hello, honey," her mother's voice came over the line, it sounded glad to hear from Beca yet a little hesitant.  
"Hey, mom. How're you?"  
"I'm good, though by the fact that you're calling and by the sound of your voice I'd say you're not," her mother came right to the point. Beca fell silent, she didn't even know why she had called her mother. She didn't really want to talk to her - about... Chloe.  
"I'm alright," she said but knew her mother wouldn't buy it. "Is this a bad time, I could call later." Beca tried to get out of this conversation, one she had initiated. She felt stupid, and undecided, and desperate, and exhausted. She had feelings - for another human being. And that was scary.  
"It's not a bad time at all. I have already finished my work for today and I feel really good about it. You remember that idea I told you about, the sculpture. Ii's actually taking form, I can't wait for you to see it." Her mother was an artist, she also worked part-time at a photo-studio. She was an amazing photographer but her artistic outlet included painting, sculpturing, and some more postmodern art-concepts as well. She was also a good singer and sometimes entertained at the local bar on Sunday afternoons. Beca admired her mother's drive and her passion for all the things she did, she herself had only one passion, one purpuse in life: she wanted to make music.  
"Sounds great, mom," she now said but lacked enthusiasm. She flinched because she knew her mother could tell as well.  
"Out with it, Beca. You usually don't just call me on a Friday afternoon to talk about my work, or to tell me that you're alright," Beca could practically see her mother make air-quotations at that word. She sighed. "Just tell me. You didn't get arrested again, did you?"  
"No, mom, I didn't get arrested again. Geez, one might think I got arrested every other day when I still lived at home. It's not like I've ever been a juvenile delinquent, or something like that," Beca went off.  
"No, to be a juvenile delinquent you would have to have left your room every once in awhile," her mother gave back good-naturedly.  
"Yeah, well... I'm trying that here and... I'm not sure it's going so well, so... the question would be if you'd rather have a criminal as a daughter or someone who stays at home all day," Beca groused.  
"I just want you to be happy," and for some reason this brought instant tears to Beca's eyes. It wasn't like she didn't know that about her mother, her mother had always encouraged her to be very much herself but... for some reason, the words meant more to her than ever before. Or maybe it was just because she was entirely too emotional right now.  
"I think I like someone, and I don't think they like me back, and I..." It rushed out of Beca and then she felt the tears spill over.  
"Whoa, honey, slow down. It's okay, just... tell me, okay?" Beca nodded but it took her a little time to push the emotions back down, to brush away the tears and confess to her mother what she hadn't really admitted to herself yet.  
"I like a girl, her name is Chloe. She's pretty much my best friend here and I... I think I'm crushing on her pretty hard... but then there's this guy, Jesse, he's also nice and I llike him but then we're always fighting. And I thought... maybe it would be nice to date him but... most of the time I'd rather spend time with Chloe or at Bellas practice, or DJing at the station... I don't know..."  
"Okay, why don't you tell me about Jesse. And then you can tell me about Chloe. And we'll figure it out together, alright?"  
So, Beca told her mother about Jesse. How he was funny and nice and interested in her but also infuriating because he was too conventional in his thinking. How he loved movies and tried to get her to watch some... how he thought that there was only one possible outcome to any given situation because that was how it was in movies. And that's just not how she herself saw the world.  
And then Beca told Grace about Chloe. How she was sweet and lovely and so into things. How her eyes sparkled and her smile just overwhelmed you. That she was confident and smart and had a lovely singing voice. How she had told everyone that she had nodes and how brave she was and how determined to just ignore them for the good of the Bellas. She told her mother that Chloe was sometimes a little dramatic, and that she's had a crush on her best friend, that this friend was a woman also. That Chloe had said that she liked girls, and that Beca wished she was a little into her but didn't see that she was.  
Her mother smiled a little at the descriptions of these two people whom her daughter had met and who were obviously quite different. She knew that she could tell her daughter to play it safe, she was young, she could start by going out with that guy and see how it went. But she and Beca had always been honest with each other when it came to relationships, feelings, men and women - Beca had been the first person Grace had told that she had feeling for a woman and though she didn't necessarily talk about her sex life with her daughter, she felt that it shouldn't necessarily be a taboo if Beca had questions - and she didn't want to change that now.  
"I think you may have a serious crush," she told Beca, "on Chloe. It's okay, honey, don't panic," she continued as she heard her daughter take in a sharp breath. "It happens, actually, it seems to happen really often, especially in college. It doesn't define your sexuality and you know that, right?"  
"Yeah, I know, just... what am I gonna do? I mean, Chloe is amazing and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't... laugh at me or end our friendship if I told her but... I don't know if I wanna tell her... this might be... nothing... or everything...." Beca felt her breathing hitch and knew she was about to hyperventilate. So much for not panicking! She tried to slow her breathing down, consciously breathing in through her nose and letting the breath out through her mouth.  
"It's okay, honey. Easy does it," her mother's soothing words came over the line. "You don't have to make a decision just now, okay? It sounds like neither Chloe nor Jesse are going anywhere and they both seem to like you." Beca nodded.  
"I know," she said.  
"So, take your time. I know you'll figure it out. And you know that I'll always be here to listen, and to support you."  
"I know," Beca repeated. She knew that her mother was telling her that it was okay to like Chloe. And Beca knew that, too, of course. It shouldn't be a big deal for her, she had been raised by a very liberal mother and her father wasn't as conservative as he sometimes came across. Still, she had not seen it coming and it threw her. She wasn't used to tearing up over a song because it held a memory, she wasn't used to looking at someone and wishing she could be closer to them. It seemed to her now that her teens - those years parents kept complaining about - had actually been too easy. That she had just postponed what was inevitable, the discovery of feelings... Beca rolled her eyes at herself. She had been a fool.


	6. Chapter 6

Beca knew that Aubrey was usually an hour early for practice. The Bellas captain liked to prepare herself for each session, take control, and give it her 110%. Chloe had told Beca that about her best friend and the brunette had shaken her head over it but now she was actually glad of it. Because she had to talk to the blonde and she didn't want anybody to overhear this conversation.  
Fortunately, Aubrey was very punctual and Beca didn't have to wait long. It was getting colder these days and the DJ was still wearing a too thin jacket for these kind of low temperatures. She stood infront of the door when Aubrey arrived and the blonde raised an eyebrow at her.  
"If you came here to apologize then you will have to wait for another hour. I want all the Bellas to hear this," she said to the smaller woman.  
"That's not what I'm here about," Beca told Aubrey and a second eyebrow joined the first.  
"Of course not. What was I thinking?"  
"I wanted to talk about Chloe," Beca continued. She didn't want for Aubrey to get a rise out of her, the blonde and Beca had gotten into enough fights already.  
"What about Chloe?" Aubrey asked as they continued to stand outside their practice room.  
"Can we discuss this inside?" Beca asked and started stomping her feet to let Aubrey know that she was cold.  
"You're suspended from the Bellas, Beca. That means, you're not getting anywhere near any Bellas-business and this room is part of it. So, make it quick." Beca squinted her eyes at Aubrey, the blonde was quite serious about this, she knew. Beca just couldn't believe the pettiness she exhibited.  
"Alright," she finally said. "Chloe is hurting, you know that. I don't get why you're being so hard on her and, honestly, I think you should back off." Aubrey's expression didn't change at all, she just looked at Beca with that thoughtful expression of hers, the one that told Beca that her opinion wasn't appreciated.  
"Did Chloe send you here to say all this?"  
"No, she didn't. She...," but here Aubrey interrupted Beca.  
"But you still felt the need to come here and have your say, even though she didn't ask you to." Beca looked up at Aubrey suspiciously, she was sure the taller woman had a point and she was waiting for her to make it. "I've known Chloe for almost three years now and we've been best friends for the most part of it. There's one thing you should know about Chloe: she choses her battles very wisely. She didn't come to me about this which means she isn't going to fight me on this. This tells me that I have made the right decision. Another thing: Chloe doesn't like for other people to fight her battles for her, she's very independent. So, you being here on her behalf... she wouldn't appreciate it if she knew." Beca clenched her jaw, she didn't know what to say to this. It was clear that Aubrey knew the redhead better than she did and Aubrey wasn't going to let her forget it. She nodded slowly and Aubrey turned to unlock the door to the practice hall.  
"You're her best friend but you know what? You've been treating her like shit ever since she spoke out for me to become a Bella. I know you don't like me but don't take it out on Chloe. She did what she thought was best for the group and since she fought you on this, she must have had good reasons, right?" Aubrey turned to Beca and this time it was her to squint her eyes. "I don't have to tell you how amazing Chloe is, you know that. She's..." Beca stopped, rethinking of what she wanted to say. She didn't want to get lost in her feelings for Chloe and tell Aubrey something she didn't need to know. But she wanted to get her point across. "She's your friend and if she's hurting, you should show compassion. That's what she needed yesterday, not your command to pull herself together. And she didn't leave because she was pissed or because she wanted to defy you - that's what I did - she left because she was in pain. If you want to suspend me, fine, but there's no reason to do that to Chloe. That's just mean," she finally ended her little speech.  
Aubrey was still squinting her eyes at Beca, not saying anything but seemingly thinking about what the brunette had said.  
"Alright, I will lift Chloe's suspension. But make no mistake, yours is still intact. You're a troublemaker, Beca, and I know you have a toner for a Treble. One of these things will eventually lead to you leaving the Bellas. And just fyi, from this moment on I'll be looking for a replacement for you," the blonde finally spit out. Beca smiled lazily.  
"Do what you have to do, Aubrey, but we both know that as long as you can't find anyone to join you're stuck with me. And I'm not going to abandon everybody just for you to have a little feud. I like these girls and I'll stick around as long as they need me," Beca promised.  
"There's one someone, though, that doesn't need you, Beca. Chloe doesn't need a protector, and she doesn't need a new best friend because she's already got one. Keep that in mind," Aubrey said and then slipped through the door to the practice hall. Beca shook her head, of course, Aubrey would have the last word in this. The DJ took a frew deep breaths and then left for another conversation she felt she needed to have tonight.

Beca knocked at the door and heard footsteps a moment later before the door swung inside.  
"Hey, Jesse," she greeted the young man who now stood before her.  
"Hey, I texted you all day. Did you get my messages?" He seemed overly eager, a little frazzled actually.  
"Yeah, I got them but I thought I should come over and talk to you," she said and he opened the door for her. "Is Benji here?" She asked though she couldn't seen him.  
"No, he's at the library. Sit down," Jesse pointed at his bed and Beca sat down there, not exactly making herself comfortable. Jesse's laptop sat open on his bed, a bowl of popcorn stood ever-ready beside it. "What're you watching?" Beca asked.  
"Disney's Beauty and the Beast," and at Beca's amused look he said: "It's for one of my classes... but it's not all that bad. Though the talking wardrobe creeps me out a little."  
"There's a talking wardrobe in this one? I feel cheated, there were only talking animals in The Little Mermaid," Beca said.  
"You watched The Little Mermaid?" Jesse asked with one of his goofy smiles that told her he thought he could yet turn her into a movie-lover.  
"Well, part of it. It's Chloe's favorite," she said and saw his smile literally freeze on his face.  
"It's a redhead-thing, isn't it?" he overcame his momentary slip into jealousy and smiled again.  
"I'm not sure it's about that. She said she loved the lobster and I don't know if that's code for something," Beca joked. She tried to ignore Jesse's exploring look at her, she also tried to ignore that Jesse was obviously weary of her friendship to Chloe.  
"Listen, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have said that about Chloe and Aubrey. You're probably right about Bumper just making it up," he finally said. He reached over to his laptop closing it with a snap, tired of looking at Belle smiling up at the Beast - the still he had stopped the film at.  
Beca nodded at his words.  
"I haven't told either of them about this, so, just don't mention it again, okay?" Jesse nodded. "And I also wanted to apologize. What you did for Benji was really cool, I'm glad you talked to the Trebles about it."  
"I hope it helps but you don't need to apologize. You were right. I knew that they were making fun of him and I didn't tell them to stop... I'm just always telling Benji to stop being weird. That's not fair. He isn't doing anything wrong," Jesse admitted.  
"He's just being himself, I admire that," Beca looked over at the part of the room that was Benji's - she had silently christened it "the fandom" - and smiled. "He's so passionate about all this. I think compared to him we're pretty lame - you with your movies and I with my music." Jesse smiled at her.  
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Still, I have to try and get you to join the dark side. How about movie night one of these days?"  
"No," Beca simply answered.  
"No?" His face fell.  
"That's right, no. I don't want to sit here and stare at that small screen. But I will agree to go to the movies with you. I will pick the movie, of course, and you will pay for it," Jesse laughed at Beca's audacity but was actually delighted about the idea. Movie meant going out together, as in a date. "I don't want to sit in a movie theater for two hours regretting that I have paid money for it. But: I will pay for snacks," she smiled.  
Jesse nodded.  
"Sounds like a plan. You wanna set a date, then?"  
"No, I'll have to see about practice and there're also some things I have to do for classes," Beca said. Jesse nodded again. "But soon," she reassured him and he smiled.  
"Great. It'll be epic," Beca laughed at Jesse's enthusiasm.  
"You don't know yet which movie I'll pick. It could be a really bad one," she told him and he turned thoughtful.  
"Do I get to veto it if I know it's a bad one?" He asked.  
"Okay, but you only get ONE veto."  
"Hmmm, that's tricky. But I accept the challenge," he grinned and she couldn't help answering it in kind. She actually felt quite comfortable again. Jesse could be so great, she wished they could always get along like this. She knew, of course, that he liked her and she was pretty sure that she could like him also. But she didn't have the kind of feelings with him that she had around Chloe. No butterflies, no pulse racing, no lingering looks at body parts that were insufficiently covered. Not that she had seen any part of Jesse that should have been covered but wasn't. It was all... comfortable with Jesse. She could spend time with him, she could have fun, laugh a lot, joke with him. But there was no spark - and at this point Beca honestly doubted that there would ever be one.  
"Hey," he touched her arm and she looked at him.  
"Sorry, I just zoned out there for a moment."  
"Yeah, you did. You alright? Want some popcorn?" He offered the bowl to her but she shook her head.  
"No, I should go home. I have an essay to write," which wasn't a lie, even if it was only due on Monday and she had plenty of time. Jesse nodded.  
"Then you don't wanna watch the ending of this fascinating movie with me?" She shook her head.  
"No, I feel that if there's a talking wardrobe in this I should watch the whole thing," Beca gave back and grinned.  
"There's also a talking tea cup and..."  
"Hey, don't spoil it for me!" Beca exclaimed and hit Jesse over the head with a pillow. They both looked at each other for a moment, then Jesse picked up a pillow of his own and hit Beca back. It turned into a mini pillow fight - which Beca ultimately won, she was just more badass than him.  
Beca left Jesse's smiling, but while she didn't think about him much after she had left his dorm, he couldn't get her out of his mind for the remainder of the day - nor the days to come.


	7. Chapter 7

When Beca entered her dorm room, she was glad to see that Kimmy Jin wasn't there. She wanted some quite downtime to think - about Chloe. Because, with all the things that she had done that day, she couldn't get her out of her mind. Not her eyes, not her smile, not the way her hand curled around her own in sleep. All this made her ache to see the redhead and to talk to her but she wasn't even sure if a text from her would be welcome at this moment. Beca pulled her headphones over her ears and sat down at her computer. Maybe mixing would distract her from her thoughts, and her feelings, and those annoying things her stomach did when she thought of Chloe.  
Before she could really get into anything worthwhile, though, there was a knock on the door. Beca looked at the clock, it wasn't even 10 yet, so, there was a chance that it was one of Kimmy Jin's friends since most of her own friends were at practice. Except for one - and that one was standing at her door.  
"Hey, Beca," she smiled and Beca had to mentally restrain herself not to laugh at the sight of Chloe. It just made her happy.  
"Hey, come in," she pulled the door open and Chloe stepped inside. She stood a little awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Have you been working?" The redhead pointed at Beca's equipment but the smaller woman shook her head.  
"Just fiddling with something. Sit," Beca invited and Chloe sat down a little primly on her bed. It reminded Beca of herself earlier at Jesse's which told her that Chloe wanted to talk.  
"So, Aubrey texted me. Actually, she sent me this elaborate essay via text messages why she has reconcidered my suspension. I think there was even an apology in there somewhere, though she disguised it pretty well."  
"That's great," Beca said and smiled. But it didn't come over as either natural nor relieved.  
"You talked to her?" Beca nodded but didn't say anything. "Why?" Chloe asked because her friend didn't offer an explanation.  
"I thought you didn't deserve a suspension. You are sick... I mean, your nodes hurt you and you shouldn't have to apologize for it or for taking a day off. That's all," Beca said. But it wasn't all. "I know it's none of my business and if you're angry at me for interfering... well, I can't change what I did. It just felt like the right thing to do."  
Chloe suddenly beamed at her. She got up off the bed and came over to Beca who sat at her desk but turned towards the bed. She hugged her.  
"Thank you," she whispered into her ear and it made Beca's stomach flutter again.  
"Really?"  
"You seem surprised," Chloe said. She remained standing looking down at Beca, one hand on the brunette's shoulder.  
"Just... Aubrey said you didn't like people interfering for you, that you are quite independent that way."  
"Oh, I am. But... well, there's a difference between when a friend does it or when your boyfriend or a potential boyfriend does it. It's often kind of patronizing when a guy does something like that for you, like you couldn't do it for yourself. And I hate that. I'm quite capable..."  
"I know that," Beca interrupted quietly and earned a smile in return.  
"I know that you do and that's the difference. Apropros of nothing, I broke up with Marc," Chloe then said and it hit Beca like a sledge-hammer to the head. She blinked up at Chloe, opened her mouth as if to say something (preferably "congratulations") but then closed it again. "Maybe not entirely apropros of nothing, Marc is the kind of guy who would do things for me that I can do myself. He thought it was cool to actually fight over me, can you believe that? He broke some guy's nose at the last party we went to. I should have ended it right there... just... I think there were some feelings left..." Chloe shrugged her shoulders. She sat down on Beca's bed again but this time at the end where Beca sat, not in the middle where she couldn't reach her. And that's what Chloe did, she reached for Beca, touched her knee.  
"You haven't said anything yet. Is it such a surprise?" Beca shook her head, not necessarily in answer to Chloe's question but more to clear it.  
"I... I'm sorry?"  
"No need, I really meant what I said the other morning: I think I've outgrown him." Beca nodded.  
"Then that's good. I mean, if you don't have feelings for him anymore and... I don't know much about your relationship. I think I've only seen you two together twice."  
"Yeah, once in the shower," Chloe had to laugh at the face Beca made.  
"He isn't THAT bad looking," she defended her ex.  
"No, it's just... I think I saw a little too much of him that day," Beca offered.  
"A little too much of me, too?" Chloe teased and the DJ blushed. "Awwww, you're so cute," Chloe took Beca's hand and pulled her over onto the bed. The brunette sank down on it quite gracelessly.  
"Just fyi, I'm not cute. I'm a badass motherfucker DJ who will whup your ass," Chloe laughed hard at this. "HEY! Come here, you," Beca pulled Chloe full onto the bed and then started tickling her.  
"Stop it! NO!" Chloe was laughing so hard tears trickled out of the corner of her eyes. She tried to fend Beca's hands off but what little resistance she offered was wasted. Beca attacked her relentlessly and after a couple of minutes of this, Chloe cried uncle. Both girls leaned back laughing.  
"You're a menace, Beca Mitchell."  
"Now that's better than cute," Beca smiled. She put her head next to Chloe's as they both looked up at the ceiling.  
"Thanks for making me laugh. I... breakups suck," Chloe mused after a while.  
"They do," Beca confirmed. They lay like this for some time, Beca listening to her heartbeat slowly returning to normal. She had never been someone to indulge in tickling matches, except when she had been little with her mom. She felt awkward when it came to touching people, she rarely put her hand one someone's shoulder for consolation. But with Chloe... she had seemed a little sad and Beca couldn't even say how she had known that, there was something not quite right in her smile and that was weird because Beca never paid that much attention to someone. But with Chloe... she had just wanted to cheer her up and then she had followed her instinct - and a sudden desire to touch the redhead - and had started tickling her. She had underestimated what it would do to her, though. It made her breathless - and happy. And craving so much more. This was wrong - as long as Chloe wasn't aware of her feelings this was so very wrong.

Beca was walking Chloe home. She had picked a warmer jacket this time but the warmth she felt came from the fact that Chloe had linked their arms and was pressing into her side.  
"What's your favorite song?" She was playing twenty questions with Beca - only it was more like a gazillion questions already.  
"That's like the worst thing you can ask a DJ," the brunette said.  
"Okay, the song you like to listen to the most at the moment. There must be one," and there was. But Beca was reluctant to reveal it to the redhead because it was Chloe's very own lady jam.  
"I like... I don't know..."  
"That's not a song, is it? I don't know. I never heard of it," Chloe joked. "Out with it, Beca."  
"Maybe Bulletproof, I really like that."  
"Yeah, me too. It would be great singing it at the semi's," Chloe mused.  
"Like that's going to happen," Beca groused.  
"I'll talk to Aubrey again, I promise. Just... try not to get into fights with her. I don't want her to..." Chloe stopped talking but Beca had an inkling that she knew what the redhead was about to say.  
"Fire me?" She asked. Chloe seemed to grip her arm even tighter.  
"I won't have her do that," she quietly vowed. "If she throws you out, I'm gonna leave."  
"No, please, Chloe, don't do that. You have to promise me, the girls need you," Beca stopped their walk, looked up and into her friend's eyes. They were sad but quiet determined.  
"They need you, too, and your fresh ideas," Chloe reasoned.  
"They need you more, Chloe. You hold them together, Aubrey can't do that. If you leave... the Bellas are over," Beca said with conviction. "You don't want that, do you?"  
"I'm not that important."  
"Yes, you are. You..." She wanted to say it, right then and there. She wanted to tell Chloe how her pulse sped up every time their eyes locked, how her hands got all sweaty and cold when she was this close, how time never mattered unless they were about to part, how air was insufficient to nurture her because all she craved was a kiss... but that sounded too corny. God, how she wished she could write the perfect love song, that she could find words to say... that Chloe made her feel things. But there were no words, no words that weren't a repitition of all the lyrics that already been put into song. Beca shook her head.  
"I what?" Chloe asked.  
"You're important for the Bellas, don't let Aubrey tell you otherwise, okay?" Chloe gave a small smile and hugged Beca to her.   
"You're important for the Bellas, too, and don't let Aubrey tell you otherwise, okay?" Beca huffed.  
"Yeah," she reluctantly uttered but it didn't sound convinced. Chloe put her arm through Beca's again and pulled her on.  
"When and with whom was your last date?" Beca rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Answer the question, MItchell."  
"Dean Livingston, prom night. He tried to get into my... prom dress, and I threw my first punch at another human being," Beca confessed.  
"So, that's where you learned that, I had been wondering," Chloe laughed.  
"Who did you go to prom with?" Beca asked a question of her own.  
"I didn't go to prom," was the short answer.  
"Aca-scuse me!" Beca stopped and pulled herself up straight in an imitation of Aubrey. "Did you go to an all-girl boarding school, or something? No wait, that wouldn't have stopped you from going... were all guys in your class gay? Or blind, maybe? Stupid?" She realized too late that she was making a big deal out ot something that shouldn't bother her this much and she blushed.  
"No, I just... I thought the whole concept was old-fashioned, overrated and mysogynistic - so I didn't go," Chloe explained.  
"Do you regret it?" Beca asked because she seemed to detect some of that in Choe's demeanour.  
"From a purely anthropological point of view, yes," Chloe gave back but she didn't smile.  
"Do you wanna tell me what happened?" Beca asked further but Chloe shook her head.  
"It wasn't a good night for everybody. I was lucky I stayed home," she only said. Beca didn't question this further, it was obvious that Chloe didn't want to talk about it.  
"While we're on the subject of dating..." Chloe said after a couple of minutes silent walking.  
"We were?" Beca asked.  
"Yes, if you had your pick of anyone on campus - faculty included," she laughed as Beca made retching sounds (this wasn't really something one wanted to consider when one parent was part of the faculty). "whom would you choose to date?"  
"I don't know, maybe Luke," Beca said after a while during which she tried to get her beating pulse under control. If Chloe kept this line of questioning up, she might have a heartattack.  
"Luke, from the station?" Chloe seemed surprised.  
"He's British and he's got abs, what's not to like?"  
"I'm not sure, does he have a brain?" Chloe grinned.  
"Now, that was mean," but Beca had to laugh. She was quiet fond of Luke because he didn't treat her like 'just a girl,' he treated her like a talented DJ since he found out that she was just that. And before that he had treated her just as badly as the other interns who were all male. His deductive powers, on the other hand, were kind of limited.  
"What would you even talk to him about?" Chloe seemed quiet adamant that Luke wasn't the one Beca should go out with.  
"I could sit and listen to him read Pride and Prejudice, or he could just take off his shirt and I could sit staring at him," Beca joked. Chloe looked at her a little shocked.  
"Seriously?"  
"No, of course not. I'm not that shallow. Maybe you're right, maybe Luke isn't the best choice," Beca gave in.  
"Quiet right, he isn't," she heard Chloe mutter under her breath.  
"Who do you think I should date, then?" Beca asked and Chloe shrugged her shoulders.  
"I don't know," she said.  
"Just not Luke?" Beca smiled.  
"Just not anyone who doesn't appreciate you. Your talent, your wit, your... beauty," Chloe looked straight at Beca as she said it.  
"Beauty?" Beca repeated.  
"Yes, beauty. You're really... attractive, Beca. I would want you to date someone who's good enough for you." They finally reached their destination. "Here we are," Chloe said.  
"You know, I want the same thing for you. Someone who's good enough for you," Beca told Chloe earnestly.  
"I've got my eyes on someone," came the casual reply and Beca felt her heartrate pick up once more. Was this woman trying to kill her?  
"You do?" She almost choked on the words and Chloe nodded, smiling that 100-mega-watt smile of hers. "Who's he?"  
"Maybe it's not even a he," Chloe teased. "I think maybe you should call a cab to take you back to your dorm." She sounded concerned and it was indeed almost midnight.  
"No, I'll be good. I have my 'only-blow-it-when-it's-actually-happening'-whistle and some pepper spray. And you know about my left hook, right?" Beca gave a lazy grin.  
"Text me when you're home, okay?" Chloe looked deeply into Beca's eyes again and the smaller woman thought that she would promise her pretty much anything just now. A text was almost to tiny a request for a look like this. Chloe lifted both her hands to Beca's face, softly caressed both cheeks and then leaned in. For a second, Beca thought Chloe was going to kiss her but then she opened her arms and hugged her tightly. The DJ felt faint, her head was actually spinning from that one delicious moment - of delusionment. Beca sighed.  
"I'll text you," she vowed as she extricated herserf from Chloe. "See you," Beca turned and walked away. She didn't even turn back to wave, she just needed to be gone. And to start breathing again.


	8. Chapter 8

The next two weeks were more or less uneventul. It was getting colder, the leaves turned all kinds of colors and then fell to the floor, often soaking wet because it was raining a lot. Students usually hurried over the campus, not lingering much, and many chose the library as their destination. The semester was about to end and finals and papers kept everyone busy.   
For Beca there was Bellas practice again, and seeing Chloe pretty much every day and sometimes Jesse when they could get together with both their studies and both their aca-practices. They went to see that movie Beca had promised Jesse and she had to find out that he considered it a date. He tried to kiss her about half a dozen times before the film finally ended - the movie hadn't been really bad but not realy good either, as far as Beca and her wandering eyes and mind were concerned. She didn't tell anyone about it - not even her mom whom she called more regularly now, mostly to talk about Chloe. She felt bad for Jesse and knew that she had to tell him that she wasn't interested in him. But then, there was the looming possibility of Chloe starting to date again and Beca felt that she needed someone to catch her when that happened. It wasn't fair to Jesse, to be sure, but she still thought he was a nice guy and maybe he could be good for her - or maybe this would all turn out to be the desaster she always assumed relationships would be.   
Beca felt like she was drifting away from herself. Her music lacked her usual spark and she didn't seem to be able to get it back, not that anyone had commented on it yet. She would often sit and sulk over her studies, really thinking of a certain redhead that never quiet left her mind. It was exhausting, especially with the dreams that had started to invade her sleep. Beca didn't usually dream or maybe she just couldn't remember them but lately... faces of friends and frenemies started coming to her in the middle of the night. It started with Bumper of all people. She dreamed of Aubrey and of Stacie, and then one night she dreamed of a weight that pressed her into the mattress, a familiar smell invaded her senses, then the taste of someone kissing her deeply. She couldn't see anybody, in her dream it was too dark, but she knew it was Chloe. This was frustrating, and confusing, and really not something she could help but it happened more and more often.  
While the night tortured her with visions of something she was sure she would never have, daytime was the repetitive routine of Bellas practice. Even Aubrey seemed to get impatient with always doing the same three to four routines they were practicing. The only respite from this was their gigs. The most fun had been one they had done in an old folk's home not far from campus. It was a yearly thing the Bellas did out of charity and from Aubrey's whole demeanour toward it, it was something she felt obliged to do. So, mainly nobody was to have fun at this. But, of course, the current Bellas weren't like the old Bellas and it was actually more fun then they could have anticipated. They started like they always did with their competition number but most of the old people were at least half-deaf and many had their hand behind their ears to hear them better. There was only one guy who seemed interested in this at all and he was almost 90 by the looks of him. During Eternal Flame he finally began beatboxing - obviously bored. Chloe looked over at Beca who grinned and then she started to mix things up a little, actually mixing Party in the U.S.A. with Eternal Flame. Aubrey looked at her in shock but the other Bellas caught on and they ended it with Turn the Beat Around under which Beca sang Madonna's La Isla Bonita. It was glorious. Aubrey gave Beca one murderous glare but one only because she seemed to actually get into the songs and how they worked together. Everybody was quite excited when they got back to campus, and they kept talking about it.   
And Aubrey started thinking, but she wasn't quite ready to admit to even herself that Beca Mitchell knew music and that she could make them sound quite extraordinary.

It was Friday evening and Beca was at the station. Kimmy Jin was enjoying the roommate-free zone of their shared dwelling in doing what she usually did: study. That's why she was surprised when there was a knock at the door, her friends usually called before they came by. So, Kimmy Jin wasn't exactly pleased to see that the late caller was that chipper redhead with whom her roommate spent most of her time.  
"Beca's not here, she at the station," the dark-haired girl informed the one with the disturbingly blue eyes.  
"I know, I wanted to talk to you," Chloe said and smiled brightly. Kimmy Jin's look was unreadable. It didn't seem to differ from her usual look, maybe it was a even a little less friendly. "Can I come in?" Chloe was never one to be discouraged, and she was on a mission now. The Asian-American pulled the door open and retreated into the room. She sat down at her desk.  
"Do we have a class together? I don't recall ever having seen you in one of them," Kimmy JIn said, pretty sure that this wasn't the case but at a loss what else the redhead might want from her.  
"No, we don't. I'm here because I need to ask a favor," Chloe said.  
"Of course, what else?" the other girl grumbled.  
"It's not for me, it's for Beca. Her birthday's coming up..."  
"And why should I do you or Beca, for that matter, a favor?" Kimmy Jin asked.  
"Because you're nice?" Chloe said hopefully.  
"This is so typical. The white, over-priviledged, pretty girl asks the minority girl for a favor. And, of course, I am to oblige because... well, you're white and pretty," Beca's roommate scoffed.  
"I'm not asking this favor because I'm white, I'm asking because Beca's birthday is coming up. I want to do something special for her," Chloe smiled again.  
"Does this involve candles because I'm pretty sure, we're not allowed to burn candles. Fire safety regulations," Kimmy Jin informed Chloe.  
"No candles. Just... Beca and I, something to eat, some music. I would just like to bring her a cake and make her feel special on her big day, nothing fancy. And I promise we won't be later than midnight."  
"So, you want me to clear out until midnight? Is that it?" Kimmy Jin didn't sound very happy about Chloe's plan but she hadn't said no yet and the redhead took this as a good sign.  
"I know it's an inconvenience and I'm really sorry, Kimmy Jin. I wouldn't impose on you if it wasn't... well, Beca's birthday."  
"I never heard her mention her birthday. How do you even know when that is?" The dark-haired woman asked and Chloe bit her lip.  
"I have a friend at the administration office... she told me," the redhead more or less confessed.  
"But of course you do. And she told you because you just asked, right? Is she a minority, too?"  
"Listen, Kimmy Jin, I... have no right to ask a favor of you - or anyone apparently. I just... Beca is my friend. I'm sure you have a friend, male or female, who you really care about and... you just want for them to have a nice time, a special day just for them? Beca's special to me, that's all. I really want her birthday to be happy," Chloe pleaded.  
Kimmy Jin turned to her laptop where a half-finished essay stared back at her. She didn't want to give in, she didn't want anything to do with her roommate or her crazy friends. But, of course, she had friends, too. Some of them special and maybe if she did the redhead the favor, she could ask for a favor in return one day.  
"Alright, when is it?"  
"Really?" Chloe beamed.  
"I said yes, when is it?"  
"Oh, Wednesday, the 21st. Beca has class until 6, so I thought I come by around 7? Would that work for you?" Chloe asked tentatively. Kimmy Jin nodded.  
"Yes, that'll work," Beca's roommate said without even consulting a timer or anything.  
Chloe squealed.  
"Great, that's so nice of you, thank you... and whenever... whenever I can return the favor, just ask, okay?" Kimmy Jin looked up at the redhead thoughtfully. It seemed that the chipper girl wasn't quite as dense as she had thought. Even better.  
"I will," Kimmy Jin promised and tried a small smile of her own. It surprised Chloe but it was very small and gone very quickly.  
"I have work to do," the Asian-American then said, not very subtly hinting at Chloe to go now.  
"Of course. I'll leave you to it. And thanks, Kimmy Jin, I really mean that." The dark-haired woman nodded her head at Chloe and then the redhead left the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Beca hated her birthday. It was usually the day she stayed clear of people. spent her day inside - if her mom let her, that was - and tried not to think of her life progressing toward its end. Sure, this was only her 20th but things would pass more rapidly from now on. She could just tell. The fact that nobody on campus - except her dad - knew that it was her birthday didn't make her stray from her usual routine. She didn't venture out, sent emails to her professors to excuse herself from class with some flimsy explanation, then sat down at her desk to work. She was glad that she didn't have to come up with a lie for Bellas practice since Wednesday was always free due to the fact that Aubrey had classes all day.  
She hadn't even thought to make plans with Chloe which was a rare occasion. They seemed to be spending every free minute together lately. Not, that Beca was complaining - far from it - it was nice, no, it was actually aca-awesome. But not today, today was for music and sulking and eating unhealthy stuff that came out of vending machines. And she didn't even have to worry about Kimmy Jin coming in at some point and ruining her perfect day because her roommate hat informed her on exiting the room this morning that she would stay over at a friend's. That was a surprise since Kimmy Jin had never done this before but it was a pleasant one. And quite the coincidence, too.  
Beca smiled to herself. She had almost finished this song. It was a mix she thought Chloe would appreciate. David Guetta's Titanium mixed with LaRoux Bulletproof. It had been quite a challenge she had set herself but she was doing it, the songs blending in and out of each other. Beca used her own vocals for both songs this time, and it sounded pretty rad, if she said so herself. But before she could finish it there was a knock on the door.  
"What?" Beca said more to herself than to the person infront the door. She didn't want to open, she wanted the person to go away again quickly and leave her alone. But there were no retreating footsteps when she took off her headphones to listen. "Please go away," but as if in answer there was just another knock.  
"Damn," Beca groused. She didn't think it was one of her friends because they would have made themselves heard already - they knew that Beca spent a lot of time with her headphones over her ears and would knock loudly and relentlessly and accompany the whole thing with shouts that Beca should open. Amy was especially good at this routine.   
The DJ got up off her chair and sidled up to the door. Maybe they would go away before she reached it, she thought. But another knock sounded, more impatient now and she knew that it could be important. Beca rolled her eyes and finally reached for the door knob. She turned it and opened.  
A dazzling smile greeted her and then those lips formed words she hadn't heard aimed at her for at least ten years when she had insisted her mom not make a big deal of her getting older:  
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, sweetest Beca, happy birthday to youuuuuu!" There was a cake in Chloe's hands, there were small candles burning on it (Chloe had ignored the fire safety regulations, she would make sure Beca blew out every one of these candles), there was Chloe... and she smiled happily at Beca, her eyes shining brightly, just looking at her with... love? Yes, the love of one friend for another. Beca coughed awkwardly and that was before she realized the smirks and waves from some of the people who were her neighbors.  
"Come in here," she said a little roughly and pulled Chloe inside. She closed the door behind her. "What are you doing?" she then asked and blinked her eyes at the redhead. She didn't understand why Chloe was here and making all this fuss. How did she even know that it was Beca's birthday?  
"It's your birthday," Chloe stated. She didn't smile anymore, she had the inkling that this might have been a mistake.  
"Yeah, I know that, but how do you?" Beca asked.  
"Okay, hold this for a minute, will you?" Chloe gave the cake she had baked herself to Beca, burning candles and all. Then she went back to the door, opened it and picked up some bags that stood next to the door. She put them on Beca's bed. There was an enticing smell coming from at least one of them. Beca lifted an eyebrow at her best friend.  
"What's all this?" She asked. Chloe placed herself across from Beca, the cake hovering like a bad joke between them.  
"Would you please blow out the candles? I'll explain everything but please, just make a wish first." Beca couldn't resist Chloe - at all - so she did what the redhead had told her. She closed her eyes, thought of something that she wanted very much to happen, and then blew out the candles. Chloe clapped her hands.  
"Good, give this to me. We'll have cake later. For now, I have Indian. I know you like Indian best and..."  
"Whoa, hold on, Chlo. Didn't you want to tell me how you know that today is my birthday? And what all this is? And how many people you have invited here for a surprise birthday party - because people sometimes do these things because they think their friends want all these things. But I really don't." Chloe put the cake down on Kimmy Jin's desk because it was really the only place where it fit.  
"I... I have a friend at the adminitration office and I asked her... to check your birthday. I would have done this with everyone of the Bellas, if I've had to but the others were rather more forthcoming with the dates, so..."  
"That's against the law, you do know that, right?" Chloe blushed a bright red.  
"I know, I just... and I haven't invited anyone else, I promise. I know you... are not really into this kind of thing... but... it's your birthday, and not just any birthday, it's your 20th. I thought... we could just.... eat together and have some cake and... I have a present for you...," she could tell by the look on Beca's face that this wasn't what she wanted. But there was also a conflict in that face, one that told Chloe that she very much wanted to try to enjoy this surprise - for Chloe's sake. Chloe stepped up to Beca and lay her armes around her shoulders.  
"I'm so glad that I met you," she whispered in her ear and felt Beca's arms come around her waiste to rest on her back. "Happy Birthday, Beca," she kissed her on the cheek which reddened instantly. For a second Chloe pulled Beca to her very tightly then she let go of her.  
"Are you mad?" She asked tentatively and Beca shook her head.  
"No, I'm not mad. I just don't like people making a fuss about me, you know that."  
"I know," Chloe confirmed. "that's why I came alone and with food... and a present... and some movies." She saw Beca roll her eyes at this. "We don't have to watch anything, we can sit and talk and listen to music... you have been working?" She asked pointing at Beca's open laptop.  
"Yeah, I have... erm... would you mind if I finished this. I think you might like it," she said.  
"No, go ahead. Can you eat and work?" Chloe smiled, glad that Beca had obviously no plans of throwing her out of her room.  
"Sure," Beca answered and sat down at her desk. She pulled her headphones over her ears but then pushed the right one behind her ear, so that she could talk to Chloe. The redhead unpacked their food and gave Beca a container and a fork before she settled down with her own food.  
"Oooh, my favorite. I won't even ask how you know that," Beca said and she smiled at her friend. She hadn't even noticed that she was hungry but her stomach seemed to very much appreciate Chloe's thoughtfulness and for once didn't complain about her nearness. "Do you have something to drink, too, this is pretty spicy?"  
"Oh, yeah," Chloe reached into another bag and pulled a pepsi from it.  
"Another favorite," Beca grinned and took the bottle from Chloe. She reached onto a shelf over her desk and took down some cups. She gave one to Chloe. It all felt very much like a picnic, they shared the pepsi, Chloe made Beca try her curry and Beca offered some bites from her own container. They laughed a little, talked some and in between Beca tried to finish the mix.   
It took her three hours to finally get it done and then she pulled the headphone from the plug on her laptop and plugged her speakers in instead.  
"Is it done?" Chloe asked excitedly.  
"Yep, I think so. I'll probably have to polish it later but I think it's pretty good already." But Beca hesitated over the enter-key. She looked at Chloe.  
"Don't you want to play it? Or... maybe after you have finished it, polish and everything?" Chloe looked at her hopefully.  
"It's... it's a mix.... erm...," Beca was suddenly shy to play it. She had spend hours on this, and she was becoming incredibly aware that she had made it for Chloe, that she had thought of her the whole time. It was her lady jam but it wasn't just hers, Beca had mixed it with... a song that was very important to herself - her own lady jam, if she was ever to confess to even have one of those.  
Chloe looked at Beca expectantly. She didn't want for Beca to play something she wasn't sure about but she so wanted to hear and she couldn't just bring herself to tell her again that she should polish it if she'd rather... she wanted to hear it now. She felt that it was important.  
"Titanium is part of it," Beca finally said which earned her a bright smile. "And Bulletproof," she continued.  
"You like that song, right?" Beca nodded.  
"Yeah, I like it a lot," the DJ confirmed and then she hit play.  
As the first notes came over the speaker, Chloe smiled. Oh, yeah, this was her jam alright. She started nodding her head to the music and then she heard it - Beca's voice singing the lyrics.  
"Oh, my god, that's you. You sing it," and she pulled Beca off her chair and close. And she started to dance, and as their favorite songs meshed together so did they - in a dance. Chloe didn't let go of Beca for a second and Beca had never been more disinclined to seperate herself from someone. It felt too good. She wanted this moment to last forever.

But the song ended, the dance ended. Chloe insisted on listening to the song two more times and Beca explained where she would have to change some things. Chloe looked up at her fascinated. Then she insisted they were to have cake. They relaxed on Beca's bed, the music from the speakers turned low now so that they could talk. Then Chloe presented her friend with her present.  
"Oh, I thought you had forgotten," Beca teased.  
"For someone who pretends to not like their birthday, you sure are eager for presents," Chloe laughed.  
"I don't pretend to dislike my birthday, but I do love presents - no matter the occasion."  
"Good, here's you presents from the Bellas," Chloe exclaimed and handed Beca a flat, rectangular present which was very obviously a cd. But Beca hesitated to take it.  
"You told them... about my birthday? I thought..."  
"I haven't told them. I just, well, you have already figured that it's a cd, right?" Beca nodded. "I asked everybody for their favorite three songs. Since I could only get one out of you, Bulletproof is the first track. The others are titled accordingly, like Amy1, Aubrey2 and so on."  
"Aubrey's favorite songs are on here?" Chloe nodded. "Do I even want to know?" Beca grinned.  
"She's got good taste. A little old-fashioned maybe but really good. You'll see."  
"Okay," Beca laughed and pulled the wrapping from her present. She stopped dead as she looked at the cover - there they all were, the Bellas.  
"Where did you get this?" The DJ exclaimed and smiled up at Chloe.  
"A friend took a picture of us at the ICCA Regionals."  
"That's amazing, thanks so much, Chloe," she leaned over to her friend and hugged her. "Should I put it on?"  
"Sure but I wanted to give you something else first... and then... maybe we could watch a movie?" She asked grinning. Beca rolled her eyes.  
"Why does everyone want me to watch movies all the time. I watched my share, I'm not too fond of them. Let it go."  
"It's guarantueed to be a good one, I promise," Chloe coaxed as she pulled another square packet out of one of her bags, a big one this time. She handed it to Beca.  
"This feels like blackmail," Beca teased.  
"It is," Chloe gave back and giggled. She looked at Beca intently as her friend unwrapped her package. Beca made big eyes when she could finally see what was inside.  
"Chloe these are... wow, they are..." She turned the box and looked at it from another angle. "These are expensive," she finally concluded. "You shouldn't have done that."  
"Please, Beca. My parents are - as they say - filthy rich and I've been working pretty much since I was 16. It's not like I can't afford to give my best friend some new headphones."  
"It's too much," Beca protested. Chloe leaned forward, one arm on either of Beca's shoulders. The smaller woman had to restrain herself from gasping at the repeated nearness. This was getting so hard.  
"It's not too much, it's what you deserve -and then some. Really, I just... happy birthday, Beca. It's a special day just for you," Chloe pulled Beca close once more and the brunette sank into the embrace.  
After they parted, Chloe pulled some dvds out of yet another bag at her feet.  
"I'm starting to think you got Mary Poppins' bag there. What else do you have down there?" Beca inquired curiously.  
"It's nothing as awesome as all this, Becs, it's just a bunch of bags filled with surprises for the birthday girl. And there's actually only one left - and that's for later, maybe." Chloe pushed Beca back into her pillows so she couldn't catch a glimpse of what else she'd brought. She wasn't at all sure about this last one and she had promised herself to play it by ear.  
"Alright what devices of torture do we have here?" Beca picked up the dvds. She looked at the covers, they were classics and she actually knew two of them. Citizen Kane was her father's favorite movie, The Women had made it into her own small collection of dvds at home when the remake came out in 2008 - she hated that version but loved the original... well, as far as she was able to love movies. Casablanca she had never seen but wasn't all that adverse to watching now. Her mother claimed that this was the most romantic movie ever made - even including Gone With the Wind - and maybe romantic wasn't at all bad... tonight.  
"This one," Beca gave the 1943-classic to Chloe.  
"There are strong arguments for the others, too. Citizen Kane is arguably...," but Beca interrupted Chloe:  
"I know Citizen Kane and I know The Women. I don't know Casablanca," she said.  
"You know I'm starting to look behind that act of yours. You do watch movies, you're actually a movie buff but you want people to coax you to watch them. Why is that?" Chloe said, looking suspiciously at Beca.  
"Just because I don't like watching movies that much, doesn't mean I haven't seen my share. I have, actually. My dad loves movies and we watched a lot of films when... well, when he was still living with us. But he always insisted that we were quiet and that we just sit and stare at the screen. My mom and I don't do that very well. I guess, this should have been my first clue that my parents were really wrong for each other. They couldn't even watch a movie together...," Beca's smile was wistful. Chloe reached out and rubbed her forearm to comfort her.  
"So, are we going to watch this now, or should I put on some music?"  
"No, we're gonna watch this... and you don't have to be quiet at all. You can talk all you want," Chloe said and Beca laughed.  
"Alright," she pulled her laptop over and put the dvd in the slot. "Casablanca, Warner Bros.1943, Michael Curtiz director, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid star," the DJ murmured and Chloe looked at her wide-eyed. The film began. "Watch the movie," Beca instructed as Chloe was still staring at her, wondering whether her suspicion of Beca and movies hadn't been right after all.


	10. Chapter 10

Chloe cried. She had cried for half of the movie and couldn't quite fathom why Beca's eyes were so dry. The DJ had actually swallowed hard on some unwanted tears two times during the movie, the ending had nearly had her fall apart. Why the hell was Ilsa leaving Rick? Why... but in a way Beca knew why, and in another she was still wondering at it.  
"How could she?" Chloe sniffed. "He was the love of her life..." The redhead rubbed at her eyes with a tissue. Beca smiled softly at her.  
"So, I take it, you would have stayed with Rick?" She asked but Chloe shook her head.  
"Not really, I mean, neither Heinreid or Bogart have my juices flowing. I mean, yes, Bogart is kind of ruggedly hansome but... well, he's altogether too old for me. Also, I don't look good in black and white - my hair and my eyes need technicolor, at least. They are after all my best features," she grinned through her tears and Beca laughed.  
"You gotta be kidding me, you'd look good if they folded you in bubble wrap and put a paper sack over your head," she said before she could help herself.  
"Uh, babble wrap, kinky," Chloe laughed at Beca's emerging blush. Then she looked earnestly at her friend and said: "Ask you something?" Beca nodded.  
"Why don't you like birthdays?"  
"It's not birthdays per se which I don't like, it's my birthdays," the DJ corrected. Chloe only lifted an eyebrow to further her question. "When my mom and dad seperated, that first year... my dad forgot my birthday. Completely. He called on Christmas but he never remembered that one birthday. I was seven and... it completely undid me. I think I understood that day that my dad wasn't coming back, ever."  
"Aw, damn!" Chloe reached out her arms and Beca accepted the invitation. She put her face in the crook of Chloe's neck, where her hair flowed easily over her back. Then she inhaled deeply. Chloe's smell was comforting, a mix of fruity shampoo - strawberry, Beca would have bet anything - perfume, deodorant and then something else... a little spicy, very rich, Chloe's very own scent. It was intoxicating, if Beca let herself get intoxicated. But she pulled back before she could completely lose herself in it.  
"I'm so sorry, sweetie," the redhead said and carressed Beca's cheek. The brunette wondered if this would be a good moment to look up and into Chloe's eyes, to make a meaningful connection, to lean in and kiss...  
"Did he remember today?" Chloe asked and pulled Beca out of her thoughts. The DJ nodded.  
"Yeah, he called this morning, he said he would come by tomorrow to bring me my present... he's very generous. Feeling guilty will do that to a parent," Beca stubbornly stuck her chin out. She didn't want to seem resentful of that one time her father forgot her birthday. He was a good dad, compared to many others he was a very good dad. But he had left her, he had left her mom, and she couldn't find that she could forgive that. Especially since he had remarried not even a year after the divorce.  
"And your mom?" Chloe tried to pull Beca out of the funk and it seemed to work since the brunette smiled again.  
"She called this afternoon and I also got a card from her. Here." Beca reached up on her shelf and took her mother's present down. It was a birthday card and there were two invitations inside. They were for a vernisage. Chloe looked interestedly at them.  
"Wow, that's... I bet these were hard to come by. I think my mom mentioned the artist once. I didn't know you were interested in something like this," Chloe said.  
"Well, not as much as my mom. She's an artist herself but this one is for one I really like. He's actually friends with her that's how I got the invitations. Only, my mom can't come, she's got her own small showing that weekend. So..."  
"So... are you going to ask Jesse to go with you?" Chloe asked a little stiffly but Beca shook her head. Why would she want to go with Jesse? She almost asked very vehemently, then caught herself.  
"No, I actually wondered whether you would like to come with me," she said, trying to sound casual but failed. She was aware that she was asking Chloe out on a date, she wondered if Chloe also knew. By the look in her eyes she at least suspected as much.  
"Beca, it's okay, you know. I know that you were out on a date with Jesse. And if you want to pursue this..."  
"Wait, what? How do you... I mean it's not even true. We weren't on a date. Well, at least I didn't think it was a date, Jesse..." Beca broke up, she knew she sounded silly even in her own head when she tried to reason why their casual friendly trip to the movies hadn't been a date when it really had all the markers of one. It just didn't feel like a date to her because she didn't want to date Jesse. And she didn't want to go to this vernissage with Jesse, either. "Who told you?" She finally asked because she was rather curiious about this.  
"There are few secrets in the aca-world, Beca. Jesse told Donald, Donald told Bumper and he told Amy. And well, Amy told everyone else," Beca flinched at this.  
"I really didn't think it was a date. We had been fighting and, well, I didn't want to fight anymore, so, I agreed to going to the movies with him. I actually tried to avoid a more private setting of a movie-night he suggested..." Chloe smiled.  
"People often peg me as naive because I trust people very quickly but you... it's so cute how you think going to the movies with a guy could be anything but a date," she laughed when Beca pulled a face.  
"I told you before, I'm not cute," Beca gave back.  
"No, you're a badass mofo DJ who doesn't know that 'going to the movies' is code for 'getting your moves on in the backrow.'" Chloe laughed. Beca rolled her eyes but grinned.  
"So, maybe I am a little naive when it comes to dating and all that...," she consented. "Still, I didn't want it to be a date and had to dodge Jesse's lips on more occasions during that night than I want to recall."  
"Some guys just can't take a hint," Chloe said and she sounded angry.  
"I don't blame him. I mean, I never said anything outright, just..."  
"It should have been plain to him at some point that you weren't going to kiss him, so..." Chloe's eyes actually sparkled disapprovingly and Beca wasn't sure what this meant. Was the redhead just making a point about guys not taking a hint or was she maybe... jealous?  
"Anyway, since I don't want to go with Jesse to this vernissage-thing, would you like to go?" Beca brought Chloe back to the question she had asked earlier.  
"Really?" Chloe beamed.  
"Yeah, really."  
"I'd love to go," the redhead answered and Beca thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest.  
"Great," she said. "Here," she gave Chloe her invitation. They smiled at each other.  
"I'm looking forward to it," the older woman said and Beca was almost sure that Chloe knew very well that this was a date.

Beca yawned. It was almost midnight and they were just lounging on the bed, listening to music and talking a little. It felt very comfortable which was probably the reason Beca had to yawn. She felt relaxed and good, not at all like this was her birthday - which would end in only a frew minutes. Chloe sat up from her mostly reclined position.  
"You're tired," she stated. She reached for her bags and started putting them together. She seemed nervous about something.  
"Are you leaving?" Beca asked, there was an audible pout in her question. Chloe shook her head.  
"I...," she picked up that last bag that held one more... surprise. She looked into it. "Do you want me... to go that is?" Beca almost fainted after the first part of the question and barely heard the second part. She started to nod, then she shook her head.  
"No, no, erm... why don't you stay, I mean, it's too late for you to go. You must stay," she finally uttered and Chloe smiled.  
"I brought this," she said and pulled a shirt from the bag. It was the one Beca had slept in when she stayed over at Chloe's.  
"You brought me Marc's shirt? Gee, thanks that's... weird," she concluded and they both laughed but for different reasons apparently.  
"It's not for you, dummy, it's for me to sleep in," Chloe said. Beca started nodding her head. Sure, it was a big shirt... that would leave a lot of Chloe's body uncovered. Beca swallowed. Chloe hopped off the bed and started undressing.  
"Erm, Chloe?" Beca coughed, her voiced sounded very weak all of a sudden. Chloe turned toward her.  
"Yeah?"  
"I know you're all comfortable in your body and that... but..." Beca bit her lip, did she really want for Chloe to change in the bathroom or maybe behind the open closet door?  
"Where would you have me change, then?" Chloe asked flirtingly. Beca blushed so suddenly and so brightly that it made her light-headed.  
"You know what, I will just... the bathroom," Beca grabbed her own sleeping things and left for the bathrooms, cursing under her breath. She felt like a coward. Here it was, the chance of... what exactly? Getting a cheap thrill out of watching Chloe undress? An erotic fantasy played out infront of her? Maybe some fling that lasted until the next morning before they realized it was a big mistake? No, she didn't want that. She wanted to... profess, to claim, to declare. She wanted it all, the butterflies, the first kiss, making out in the back row of a dark movie theater (oh, damn, the clichée), getting to know each other better, saying their 'I love you's in a cheesy, romantically enhanced setting. She wanted her happy ending, and she wanted it with Chloe. Everything else would be cheap.  
'But so damn sexy,' her cocky mind reminded her of a truth she could not deny.

When Beca came back into the room, it was already dimmed and she could make out a form under her bedcovers.  
"I figured since you were blushing so much earlier, I'd rather spare you any further embarrassment," Chloe explained the darkened room and the fact that she was already lying in bed. Beca didn't say anything, she stood a little awkwardly by the door. Now she felt like a total dork and an idiot.  
Chloe lifted the bed covers, effectively reveiling herself to her friend. Beca stifled a gasp.  
"Come to bed?" The redhead's voice was raspy and it made Beca feel wonderful things all over. The brunette cleared her throat and Chloe laughed lighly. "Sorry, I'm just... you're so cute when you're flustered. I know, I know, you're not cute. Sorry." She said earnestly and Beca nodded.  
"That's okay," she said when she trusted herself with speaking again, still, her voice sounded just a little breathless. Beca slipped under the covers that Chloe still held. The redhead put them down over her, bringing her arm over Beca's middle. The sensations Beca felt at that particular moment were so delicious and at the same time so overtly sexual that they conducted a bitter-sweet torture. Chloe's bare legs were touching hers for their full length, her body was pressed against Beca's back, her breath was at Beca's ear, tickling her neck. The brunette closed her eyes and didn't even open them when Chloe touched her shoulder to pull her onto her back.  
"Did you have a nice birthday, Beca?" Chloe whispered into her ear and the DJ nodded.  
"I think it was the best birthday ever," Beca confessed and felt Chloe smile at her ear.  
"I'm glad," the redhead said. And then she kissed Beca. It seemed to last for a lifetime but did only last for a few seconds. And Beca could barely register that it happened and sighed when she had to admit to herself that she didn't return it. "Happy Birthday, Beca," Chloe whispered and Beca turned back onto her side. Her friend pulled her close, their bodies pressed tightly against each other. Another sigh escaped Beca's lips and she was sure she heard an answering sigh from the woman behind her. Then there was nothing but the wild beating of her heart and the voice in her head that told her that she had missed her chance.


	11. Chapter 11

It was early. But obviously not too early for someone to knock on her door.  
"What?" Beca mumbled into the sleepy daze that surrounded her but the door already opened and her dad stepped into the room.  
"Morning, Beca, I..." but he stopped short when he saw that his daughter was still in bed - and that she wasn't alone. "Oh, I'm... I'm sorry." He blushed. Beca looked behind herself and at a tangle of long red her that slowly lifted.  
"Mhhh?" Chloe made as she pushed her hair out of her face. She smiled at Beca. "Morning," she said.  
"Morning," Beca echoed and then looked at her dad who possibly blushed even more at the realization that the other person in Beca's bed was a woman.  
"Morning, Dr. Mitchell," Chloe then addressed the man who stood awkwardly by the door.  
"Chloe...ah, good morning." It was a strange but somewhat comical situation with everybody wishing everybody a good morning. Beca had seen scenes like this on daily soaps but she wouldn't have thought that she would have to live through one herself. Of course, on a daily soap people tended to start yelling at each other and then someone would pull a gun and shoot someone. This version was kind of lame compared to that but then she didn't want anyone to get shot, either.  
Chloe entangled herself from the sheets and her bedmate and got up.  
"Bathroom," she answered Beca's questioning look and walked out of the door. Beca's dad turned very deliberately away from the sight of the young woman only clad in an oversized t-shirt but he noticed that Beca didn't. She looked after the sexy redhead. Dr. Mitchell cleared his throat and Beca looked up at him.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know... that you would have company. Erm... or that you're... with another woman?" If possible he blushed an even darker shade. Beca wondered whether she should be concerned about his heart right about now but it seemed to hold under the stress of this morning's surprises.  
"Chloe is my friend," Beca said and sat up. She looked for her sweatpants and on finding them went over to her closet and pulled them on. She felt a little too exposed to be comfortable in only her sleeping shirt. Her father meanwhile wondered at the fact that she didn't wear those same sweats to bed if Chloe Beale was just a friend. "I didn't know, you knew each other," Beca said.  
"She was in one of my classes, about a year ago," Dr. Mitchell stated. Beca nodded, Chloe had never mentioned this. "I, erm... you two are friends? Just friends?"  
"Dad, I'm not gonna discuss my sex life with you, okay? It's quite frankly none of your business," Beca wondered if he now regretted his decision of bringing her where he worked more than he had when he had to bail her out of jail. Then he had seemed angry, now he was... shocked? Embarrassed? Unbelieving?  
She didn't want to give the impression that Chloe was indeed her girlfriend when she wasn't. But if her feelings for the redhead were any indication of the way Beca would feel for women in the future than they would have to deal with this at some point anyway. Why not give them both a headstart on the questions concerning her sexuality?  
"Fair enough," her dad said and looked down at the bag he held in his hands. It contained Beca's birthday present and was the reason he had come over in the first place.  
"This is for you. Happy Birthday, Beca," he offered her the bag a little stiffly. Beca walked over to him and hugged him - for the present and also to losen the tension a little.   
"Thank you, dad," she said with a smile and let him kiss her on the head. She then walked over to the bed and pulled a box out of the bag. It held a new laptop, a newer version of her current computer. "That's great," she said. She had asked him for this and had expected it to tell the truth. At least on this account he didn't disappoint.  
"There's something else in there," he said. Beca looked a little closer and discovered a pack of cds at the bottom of the bag.  
"An update on my music maker? Uh, yeah," she said and jumped up to hug her dead again. "That's awesome. I didn't even know you knew which software I use."  
"I didn't, still don't I guess. I just asked the clerk for the newest and best," he smiled, happy that he had surprised his daughter with something she liked. "It was actually Sheila's idea," he then added. Beca looked surprised.  
"Well, then tell Sheila thank you from me, okay?" He grinned.  
"I will. Erm... well, I should go. I have a class. That's why I came so early... class." Beca nodded.  
"Thanks again, dad."  
"You're welcome," and he pulled the door open and left his daughter.

Two minutes after Dr. Mitchell had left, Chloe came back.  
"He's gone?"  
"Yeah, he's gone. Here, check this out," Beca waved Chloe over. She had unpacked her new mac and was just about to charge it.  
"Uhhhh, fancy," Chloe said. "You were right, your dad's rather generous."  
"Yeah, and he threw this in as well," she held up the cd package.  
"That's the software you use, isn't it?"  
"Yeah, but this is the updated version," Beca grinned. Chloe lifted an eyebrow.  
"So, how did he handle finding his daughter in bed with another woman?" She finally asked.  
"Except for the blushing, he handled it quite well, I must say. He didn't yell or accuse - not that I would have expected him to," she said. "I didn't know you knew each other."  
"I was in his class, freshman year. I wouldn't even have thought that he remembered me," Chloe answered. She was standing next to Beca, her hand idly playing with some of the brunette's hair. They looked at each other.  
Beca felt the now familiar stirring in her stomach but it pulled her in a different direction this morning. Had the situation been comical before, it was now very intimate. It strangely felt as it must have looked to her father: two young women at the beginning of their relationship, in love, quite crazy about each other, enjoying the newness of their intimate connection. It felt so real, Beca let the moment fool herself into believing it was.  
"It's hard to forget one Chloe Beale once you met her," she said and was rewarded by Chloe's smile, the one that always took her breath away.  
"Aren't you a sweet-talker?"  
"No," Beca answered and they both laughed.  
"So, your dad's not gonna flip out... I mean, not that there was anything to flip out over," Chloe seemed to have to remind herself and thus ruined Beca's fantasy as well. The brunette frowned.  
"No, I mean, he's probably gonna call my mom... to talk about this...."  
"What?" Beca got up from her desk and searched for her phone.  
"I should call my mom and warn her," Beca said as she reached over her bed for her cell and dialed her mom's number from memory.  
Chloe meanwhile pulled on her jeans, then turned from her friend and pulled Marc's shirt over her head. She looked over her shoulder at a stunned Beca and then threw the shirt at her friend playfully. Beca grunted as the garment hit her in the head. She averted her eyes while Chloe got dressed and listened to the signal from her phone. The line was answered after a while, her mom wasn't really an early bird, much like her daughter.  
"Beca?" She sounded sleepy.  
"Hey, mom. I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Beca apologized.  
"Not quite, I was dozing. But I haven't had my morning tea yet."  
"Should I call you back until you did?" Beca smiled as Chloe joined her on the bed, now fully clothed. The redhead grinned at her and wagged her eyebrows at her. Beca blushed slightly.  
"No, it's okay. I'll just put it up while we talk. Did something happen?" She asked, a little concerned because they had just spoken the day before.  
"Not really. Dad was just here to bring me my birthday present," Beca stalled a little.  
"Did he get you that fancy laptop you wanted?" Her mother asked and Beca could hear her rummage in the kitchen.  
"Ah, yeah, it's great. He also got me an update on some software I'm using for my music," Chloe rolled her eyes at her friend for not getting to the point. She pointed at herself then at the door, asking Beca silently if she should leave. Beca shook her head immediately, she didn't want her to go.  
"That's nice of him," Grace said.  
"Yeah, erm... well, it was pretty early and... I wasn't alone..."  
"You weren't alone?" Her mother's laughter flowed easily over the line. "Now, that must have been a shock to your father," she stated, then her laughter died. "Was it Chloe? Did you..." Beca got up from the bed quickly, she didn't want for Chloe to overhear this part of the conversation, and she sat close enough that she could.  
"No, I mean... it was Choe." The redhead grinned up at her from her bed and waved in greeting to her mom. "She says hi," Beca added.  
"She's still there?" Grace asked surprised.  
"Yeah, she is. I just... dad was a little freaked, I think. I mean, he handled it pretty well but he's probably gonna call you. I just wanted to give you the heads up," she explained to her mother.  
"Just so I'm clear on this? Chloe came over this morning before your dad got there and... somehow..." Beca blushed. Did she really have to spill it out for her mom?  
"No, Chloe came by yesterday, it got late, she stayed the night. And dad walked in on us... sleeping, that is. We were still asleep," she said quickly and felt herself blush. She looked up at a laughing Chloe and heard the same sound from over the line, until it suddenly stopped.  
"But that can't be true," her mom said. "Yesterday was your birthday, and I know for certain that you never have anyone over on your birthday," she stated.  
"Well, Chloe kind of insisted... to celebrate my birthday," she explained for the redhead who looked at her questioningly.  
"But how did she even know it was your birthday? Didn't you say that you hadn't told anyone?"  
"Well, it seems Chloe has friends in high places who feed her information - quite illegally, I might add," she tried a scolding look at her friend but Chloe only grinned.  
"Let me talk to her," her mother demanded.  
"What? No... I... why?"  
"I wanna talk to her. Put her on," her mother didn't give an explanation and Beca wasn't sure what to do. She trusted her mother - up to a certain point - but somehow it didn't seem a good idea to have her talk to Chloe. They could gang up on her. "Put her on," Grace repeated.  
Beca closed her eyes. She really wasn't the kind of daughter who disobeyed her mother. Her father, maybe, but not her hard-working, liberal mom. Beca held out her phone to Chloe, her eyes still closed.  
"She wants to talk to you," she told Chloe and the redhead made a surprised sound. At the same time she hopped up off the bed and reached for Beca's phone.  
"Hello, Mrs. Mitchell?" She instantly struck up a conversation. She heard Grace laugh.  
"It's actually Ms. Thomas. But you can call me Grace, Chloe," Beca's mom said.  
"Well, it's nice to talk to you finally... Grace." Chloe grinned at Beca who went back to her bed and dramatically sank down on it.  
"I hear you had my daughter celebrate her birthday?" Grace asked surprised.  
"Well, more or less. I just brought over some food, and a cake..."  
"A cake?"  
"Erm, yeah, a cake. I always thought everybody should have a cake on their birthday, you know, with candles," Chloe saw Beca roll onto her bed, putting her hand over her eyes. The brunette knew she would never be able to live this down. She had told her mom before her eighth birthday that she didn't want a cake, that she didn't want to invite friends and that she wouldn't blow out some stupid candles. She didn't want to wish on things that never came true.  
"Candles?" Grace repeated. "Please tell me you baked that cake yourself," she added in some kind of gleeful voice.  
"I did," Beca's mom laughed.  
"You are a treasure, Chloe. You really are. I'm so glad you were with Beca on her birthday, and I can't thank you enough. She did eat some cake, right?" Chloe laughed.  
"Yeah, two pieces," Beca groaned on the bed. Grace joined Chloe in her laughter.  
"That's wonderful. She hates her birthdays, did she tell you that?"  
"Yeah, she did. And she wasn't really too happy about me singing to her but she got over it... I think she even enjoyed the movie," she added and Beca looked up at her pleadingly.  
"Shoot me now," she begged and Chloe laughed at her antics.  
"And a movie, too," Grace marveled at the powers of one Chloe Beale. "Which one?"  
"Casablanca," the redhead answered quite willingly. She watched Beca put a pilllow over her face, obviously trying to choke herself. She went over to the bed and took the pillow from Beca's face. She sat down at Beca's head and her friend took this as an invitation to pull herself up so that her head rested in Chloe's lap.  
"Casablanca?" Grace asked after a moment's silence.  
"Yeah, I know it's old but I like it."  
"It's my favorite," Grace told the redhead. "It was really nice talking to you, Chloe. I'm so glad Beca has found friends who care for her. She's... well, it's sometimes hard for her to let people in. I'm grateful."  
"Well, Beca's great. She's so talented and... well, really great," Chloe told Grace while Beca simply blushed. "And she's so cute when she blushes," Chloe added and had to laugh at Beca's outrage:  
"I'm not cute, now give me that phone back," she grabbed at her phone but Chloe gave it up without a fight.  
"Alright, geez," she made but smiled. She started running her hand through Beca's still sleep-tousled her.  
"Mom?"  
"Yes, daughter?" Grace sounded smug and Beca rolled her eyes.  
"There's no chance you'll forget what Chloe just told you, correct?"  
"No chance in hell," Beca sighed. "Casablanca?" The brunette heard her mother laugh over the line. She would have thought it a beautiful sound if it hadn't been at her expense.  
"You got it bad for that girl, kiddo," her mother informed her. Beca sighed.  
"Yeah, I know," she agreed.  
"But I think she's a nice girl. So, when are you going to ask her out, finally?"  
"I asked Chloe to come to the vernissage with me," she informed her mother and could hear the smile in her mother's voice as she said:  
"That's wonderful, darling. I hope you two have fun."  
"That's the plan," Beca said. She smiled up at Chloe who smiled down at her.  
"I want a very minutely report of it, naturally," Grace told her daughter.  
"Naturally," Beca answered.  
"Okay, I'm going to have breakfast now. You should probably treat Chloe to some, too. So... I love you, honey, and I'm proud of you."  
"I love you, too, mom. Bye," Beca disconnected the call after her mom said her own goodbye. She looked up at Chloe.  
"You made quite an impression on my mom," she informed the redhead.  
"Your mom sounds sweet. I hope I'm gonna meet her sometime." Beca just nodded, she was pretty sure her mom would make this hope a reality. She closed her eyes and sighed. Chloe's soft touch to her hair was pulling her slowly back to sleep. Until the door opened a second time that morning.  
It was Kimmy Jin. She just took a short look at the friends on the bed, huffed, put her overnight-bag down and picked up her backpack.  
"Don't you guys ever study?" She grumbled and then left the room again.  
"She hates us," Beca said to the room.  
"No, she only hates you," Chloe informed her friend and grinned down at her.  
"Very funny," Beca threw back. "My mom said I should treat you to some breakfast. You up to it?" She asked, though she'd much rather lounge like this the whole day.  
"Can't do. I have class in an hour and I still need to go home and shower," she said. Beca nodded and tried very hard to keep from pouting. "I should be going now," Chloe continued but didn't move. They kept their position, both lingering in the moment, enjoying it, mourning it, too, because it had to come to a close.  
"I had the best birthday ever," Beca mused.  
"So you said yesterday."  
"Yeah, but it's true. The best ever," she confirmed.  
"I'm glad," Chloe repeated her answer from last night. And then she repeated something else: she leaned down over Beca and gave her another kiss. And this time, Beca answered it. It was chaste and it was sweet and it lasted for only seconds but it sent a thrill through both of them. Chloe sat up, visibly flustered.  
"I... I should go," she stuttered. Beca sat up, turned to Chloe who hopped off the bed and collected her things. She didn't look at Beca who simply watched her, a little stunned, a little surprised. What was going to happen now? She wondered.  
"Are you going to eat that cake or should I bring the remains to practice tonight?" Chloe pointed at her cake.  
"Practice," Beca repeated dumbly and Chloe scooped up the cake.  
"I'll see you tonight then," the redhead said. She stopped for a second to smile at Beca and then left.  
"Sweet Jesus," Beca mumbled and let herself fall headfirst back into her bedclothes. But it wasn't just her bedclothes, near her head lay a very familiar shirt that smelled of a beautiful redhead. Beca picked it up, looked at it then pulled it to her face, inhaling deeply. "God, you're killing me, woman!" she moaned.


	12. Chapter 12

Beca had spent the morning working on her latest mix, perfecting it to a point where she had to physically restrain herself before she completely ruined it. Now she was sitting on her bed texting with some of her favorite people. Amy had started by asking when she was going to be back on the radio. Then Chloe had asked if she would like to get together for dinner before Bellas practice, Jesse had texted a minute later and asked the same thing but she had already told Chloe that she'd love to. And then there was Aubrey, texting all the Bellas - not just her - about upcoming schedules, cardio, or whatever else she thought everybody but her was always forgetting about.

All this texting had gone on for about half an hour, and Beca was already thinking about when she would have to leave to meet Chloe, when Kimmy Jin who had been sitting infront of her laptop since she came back from her morning classes turned and looked at her.

Beca blinked. "Was there something you wanted, Kimmy Jin?" she finally asked because the stare from dark eyes made her a little nervous. She secretely nursed the idea in her head that Kimmy Jin was a serial killer and whenever she said she would go to the library she actually went out killing - and she only hadn't killed Beca yet because no serial killer in their right mind would kill that close to home.

"Did you know that each of your friends' texts elicits a different kind of facial expression? I can tell by looking at you who is texting you," the Asian-American said.

Beca stared at her, what was she supposed to say to that?

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up without thinking. As she looked at the display, she could hear her roommate say: "That one would be from the fat blonde with the weird accent."

And Kimmy Jin was right, it was indeed from Amy who sent her a request for a mix - of two songs who absolutely did NOT go together. Beca texted an answer but on looking up she again looked directly at Kimmy Jin who still hadn't turned back to her work. "Is this part of your studies, Kimmy Jin? Watching people's facial expression? 'Cause if it's not then it's kinda weird," Beca informed her but the other woman's face remained impassive.

Beca was about to tell her roommate to leave her alone when her phone buzzed again, and again Kimmy Jin surprised Beca by correctly guessing who the texter was: "That would be that overly chipper redhead who smiles too much," she said.

Beca threw her a look that said she better shut up about Chloe. The text was about the choices of food for dinner - _chinese, pizza, burgers, or something healthier?_ \- and Beca really didn't care. She knew that Chloe enjoyed eating far more than she did, it was only fair that she got to decide where they would go. She texted her back. She didn't even have time to get back to Kimmy Jin - who was still staring at her - when her phone vibrated again: Jesse.

"The I-think-myself-so-charming boyfriend material," Kimmy Jin stated.

This was getting really creepy now. Beca looked at her roommate for a moment then back at her screen to read Jesse's message: _Rocky is showing at the arcade on Monday, you free?_

Beca texted back: _Bellas practice until midnight if I know my captain - and I know my captain. Not that I'm a fan of guys punchin' each other in the face._

She had barely sent it when she received an answer: _Says the girl who throws a mean left hook._

"The boy again," Kimmy Jin commented and Beca squinted her eyes at her.

"How do you do that? It's annoying - not to mention creepy."

"It's your face..." but before she could get into details, there was another buzz from Beca's phone.

She picked it up, carefully trying to keep her expression neutral.

"The blonde bitch," Kimmy Jin commented and Beca looked at her surprised. She hadn't as much as moved a muscle, but it was indeed Aubrey who reminded everyone to be on time tonight since they were doing vocal training and everyone who was late wouldn't have time to warm up their vocal chords and that was bad.

Beca didn't bother answering, she was going to the practice with Chloe and Chloe would ensure they would be on time.

"You are not very introspective, are you?" Kimmy Jin roused Beca from her musings.

"What do you mean?"

Her roommate rolled her eyes at Beca. She didn't even seem to want to discuss this but then why had she started talking to Beca at all? "This is what I see: every time that annoying redhead texts you, your face lights up like Christmas morning. Every time that guy with the goofy grin texts, you smile - but it's not Christmas. My advice: kick the guy to the curb and tell the girl that you like her - before she finds someone else to sparkle those eyes at."

This left Beca speechless for several minutes and as Kimmy Jin thought her work was done here, she turned back to her work. But it wasn't as simple as all that as she had to find out when Beca found her speech again.

"Do you... I mean... what..."

Kimmy Jin sighed and turned back to her roommate.

"Do you think she likes me, too?" It then tumbled out of the brunette and her roommate again rolled her eyes at her.

"Do you think someone who wasn't interested in you would go to so much trouble of getting rid of me on your birthday?" She asked.

"Getting rid of you?"

Another dramatic sigh from Kimmy Jin. "She was here a couple of days ago, practically bribing me to clear out. She said until midnight but I figured that only happened in fairy tales."

This answer left Beca stunned, not just the fact that Chloe would come here and talk to Kimmy Jin but that Kimmy Jin actually listened and complied. "Well... erm... thank you, Kimmy Jin," she finally got out.

Kimmy Jin kept looking at her and Beca wondered what the other woman was thinking. Did she want Beca to pay her in some kind of way? Was she maybe imagining how she would kill Beca if she only could?

"Why are you still here?" Kimmy Jin asked and Beca raised an eyebrow at her. "I told you that there's a person who is crazy about you. A person you obviously got the hots for, and you're just staring at me like a dumb fish. Go get the girl." And then Kimmy Jin turned back to her work again.

A dumb fish? Beca wondered. She frowned. Kimmy Jin wasn't too far off base. Beca hopped from her bed, slipped into her boots and a jacket and left.

* * *

 

Gibson Hall was at the other end of campus and it was where Chloe had her last class of the day. Beca knew this because she found it easy to remember each and every little detail of the redhead's life, they just stuck to the inside of her brain like post-it notes.

Beca was hurrying out of her dorm and into the crisp autumn air, not looking left or right. She had to talk to Chloe, now. She couldn't wait until the time they had set to meet, after Chloe had gone home, after she did some cardio, after... it had to be now - or Beca might lose her nerve. She wasn't even sure what she would say to her. Some phrases ran through her mind, phrases that seemed to be coming right out of the most predictable of romantic movies, very dramatic, very confessional. They spoke of love at first sight (which wasn't even true in their case), they spoke of undying love, of deep desires, and all that crap. But they weren't at the core of Beca.

Beca wanted to tell Chloe how their respective lady jams didn't seem to fit together at first sight but then meshed perfectly. About her starting to like songs she wouldn't even have listened to if Chloe hadn't told her to. About how her voice sometimes reached inside Beca during practice and totally messed with her heartbeat. Chloe was music to Beca's ears. She was...

"Hey, Beca, wait up!" she heard a familiar voice call for her and she felt her face flinch. But why would she flinch, it was her friend Jesse who had just exited... some building where he presumably had some class or other.

Beca forced a smile onto her lips as Jesse caught up to her. She was still hurrying along, though, looking at her watch to see if it was actually time for classes to end. It seemed Jesse's prof - whoever he was - had ended class early.

"Hey, where're you going?" Jesse inquired, smiling down at Beca.

"Gibson Hall," came the short answer back.

"I didn't know you had classes over at Gibon," Jesse wondered aloud, pretty sure she didn't have a class over there. He knew where all her classes were, just like Beca knew where all of Chloe's took place. It was the mystery of the lover's continuum why this had never struck her or him or Chloe as strange. It did now but Beca wasted only a fleeting thought on it then her mind raced on to the moment she would see Chloe.

"I don't, Chloe does," Beca informed her friend.

"Right," Jesse said thoughtfully. He walked alongside Beca for a while, making the brunette a little nervous.

Why was he insisting on accompanying her on this walk, on this very important and very nerve-wrecking walk? Didn't he have other places to be?

"Beca, I..." He touched her arm, and stopped.

She stopped also, more out of politeness than the desire to hear what he had to say. This wasn't helpful at all - but he was still her friend.

"Erm, I really enjoyed the other day at the movies. Maybe we could do that again sometime. You could come over, say Saturday, and we could watch something else... something good, I promise," he smiled at her, his eyes trusting, his demeanor a little too sure that she would say yes.

"I'm sorry," Beca said. She wanted to hurry on but she knew that this was the moment when she could clear things up for this hopeful movie-maniac who was looking for a Nora to his Nick Charles, for a Sally Albright to his Harry Burns. But this wasn't who she was at all.

"Do you remember when I told you that I don't like predictable endings. The kind of endings where the boy meets girl-story culminates in their professing their love for each other?"

"Yeah, when we had that picnic. You were surprised that I didn't have a girlfriend," he remembered that day very well.

"Right. You know, I like unconventional endings better. Endings where Ilsa leaves Rick out of a sense of duty toward her husband and for the fact that the audience wouldn't love her half as well if she was an unfaithful wife. Endings where Jack drowns while Rose lives to tell their tale 85 years later. Where Rhett leaves Scarlett because she can't make up her mind that she loves him. These are classics but there's another movie I really like, one that you probably haven't seen."

Jesse raised his eyebrow to what he considered a challenge.

"It's the story of Rachel marrying Hector and then falling in love on her wedding day - with a quirky redhead, a woman." Beca saw a frown deepen on Jesse's forehead, he seemed confused for a moment, then it hit him what she had just said.

"Chloe?" he asked. "You're into Chloe?"

She nodded, looking squarely into his eyes. "Yeah, I'm... pretty much head over heals for her," she confirmed. His eyes turned so sad at this information, she wanted to reach out and comfort him. But she held back, she didn't want him to think that her feelings for him went beyond friendship - never again.

"Right," he said. He turned from her and just walked away. After a moment, he picked up speed and started running.

Beca closed her eyes, sighing deeply. "You had to send him my way today, didn't you?" She groused at a highter power she usually didn't believe in. Whenever she imagined a god she would see him as this small, grumpy old man who decided man's fate at a throw of his dice and cackled at the misfortunes of the mere mortals. "Damn," she cursed but then continued her way. There was a redhead she wanted to see now more than ever.


	13. Chapter 13

Beca entered Gibson Hall as classes ended and had to fight her way inside. She looked around herself, aware that she could already have missed Chloe, she could have been in that first throng of people pushing past her. There were still students exiting class rooms and Beca worked her way to the hall where Chloe's class had taken place. There were still some people leaving and there was one of Chloe's friends - Martha? Mary? Beca couldn't quite recall.  
"Marley, wait up!" the voice kicked Beca into the stomach and she didn't need any more confirmation that Chloe was still there. She exited the class room and caught up to her waiting friend. "Did you get what he said about Barthes? I must have zoned out there for a minute," the redhead just said. She smiled at Marla or what her name was and... God, she was beautiful. And popular. And amazing. Why would anyone as special as Chloe want to go out with her?  
Beca felt her confidence stumble as she watched Chloe, oblivious to the people who rushed by her and the shoves she received for standing in the way. Beca balled her hands into fists, she felt a rush of panic and she knew if she didn't go over to Chloe now, didn't tell her that she felt... something, that she would lose her chance. And that she would lose her nerve forever.  
'And she already agreed to go out with me, right?' she tried to cheer herself up. She walked closer, Chloe was still talking to her friend. But then she looked up and straight at her fellow Bella.  
"Beca," it was the sound of her name on those lips that gave the DJ a kick in the ass. She walked up to Chloe who had suddenly lost all interest in a discussion of Roland Barthes. There was a certain set to Beca's jaw, a glint in her eyes, a determination to her step. And Chloe knew what was going to happen.   
Beca stopped infront of her friend, neither of them saying anything. The brunette lifted her hands to Chloe's face, pulling her closer, kissing her.   
And it wasn't just a peck, either, this was for real. Their lips locked onto each other and the world vanished, Marley vanished, Gibson Hall vanished. Only Beca and Chloe remained, the memory of their first meeting at the activities fair when their eyes connected and Beca lost track of what the redhead was saying for just a second, their encounter in the shower with Chloe just ignoring the DJs walls and them hitting some beautiful notes together... auditions and that smile, practice and those helping hands, Regionals and the fact that Chloe wouldn't go to bed until she knew Beca was alright. It all converged into this one moment, the kiss that Beca had wanted since she met Chloe. And she hadn't even known.  
When they finally parted to get some much needed air, Chloe giggled, touching her forehead to Beca's.  
"I hope there's more where that came from," she breathed.  
"You can bet on it," and Beca was willing to continue where they had just left off when she felt a hand on her chest stopping her.  
"Could we maybe take this to a place a little more private?" Chloe asked. "Like my place?"  
"Sure, but then you won't get your cardio done before practice."  
"Oh, don't worry about that. You got my heart plenty pumpin', Beca Mitchell," Chloe assured her. Beca just grinned. They were staring at each other, still very oblivious to the noise and the people and one curious look from dark brown eyes which was Marley's. The tall girl cleared her throat.  
"Oh, sorry, Marley, I... got distracted," Chloe grinned and blushed just a little.  
"That's okay, we can continue our discussion another time. It's not like Barthes is going anywhere," she smiled at Chloe, then at Beca.  
"Alright, see you next week then," Chloe said and Marley waved before she joined a group of other students.  
"She seems nice," Beca said. She felt a hand slip into hers and looked back up at Chloe.  
"She is," Chloe confirmed as her eyes practically melted with Beca's. They stood like that for a minute, then Beca pulled Chloe with her toward the exits.

Chloe unlocked the door to the apartment she shared with Aubrey and stuck her head in, listening.  
"Aubrey?" she called into the quiet but it continued. "She's not here," Chloe informed Beca. The DJ shrugged, she couldn't care less where Aubrey Posen was at the moment, as long as she wasn't in the same room with them. She didn't need anyone but Chloe. And the redhead seemed to feel the same as she pulled Beca close and kissed her. And kissed her again.  
"This is good, I like this," she said in between kisses and pulled Beca into her room.  
"Me too," Beca could just whisper before her lips were attacked a little more ferociously and tongues joined the fun of oral exploration.  
Chloe pushed Beca's jacket from her shoulders and shrugged out of her own before shedding her shoes. Beca did the same and was still struggling with her second boot when Chloe pulled her towards the bed.  
"Chloe...," Beca said a little unsure of where this was going.  
"Shhhh, Beca, it's okay. Just trust me," the redhead pleaded, her hand carressing Beca's back and sides as she led her to the bed. Chloe sank down on it. "Come here, I wanna be close to you." But Beca remained standing, this wasn't what she had thought would happen between them after their first kiss.  
"I'm not sure..."  
"Beca," it came out a little scolding. "you should know me better by now. Just lie down, it's only my bed not a death-trap." Beca took a deep breath and finally lay down next to Chloe who put her arms around her.  
"See, it's alright," Chloe smiled and touched Beca's face lovingly. "You're perfectly safe with me," she promised and leaned in for another series of kisses which left them both breathless but smiling like idiots.  
"You're a good kisser, Beca Mitchell," Chloe complimented, humming appreciatively.  
"So are you," Beca captured Chloe's lips once more, dipping deeply and sensually into the realm of emotional deliverence. She wanted Chloe to feel what she had been feeling for weeks now, she wanted her to understand... that this was more. More than a flirt, more than an experiment, more than Jesse could ever be for her.  
"Mhhhhmhhh," Chloe moaned into Beca's mouth and Beca felt a new height of arousal in her short history of sexuality. She had never felt what she was feeling now, this mix of emotional connection, sexual desire and the truth that she was indeed safe with Chloe.  
"So very good," Chloe murmured against Beca's lips before she lay back a little to look at the brunette. "What happened? I mean, why now?"  
"Well, you started it. You kissed me, remember?" Beca smiled softly as Chloe giggled.  
"Yeah, but that was just... a chaste birthday kiss," Chloe said.  
"Maybe the one last night but not the one this morning... right?" There was a hint of insecurity in Beca's voice but Chloe's smile was very reassuring.  
"I was surprised when you responded," she said.  
"I could tell that you were surprised, hell, you practically ran out of my room," Beca answered and frowned a little.  
"Have you ever wanted something so much that upon receiving it... you panicked? That's what happened this morning. I thought..." But she didn't finish the sentence, she just frowned at the person who had fled Beca's room earlier that day.  
"You thought what?"  
"I probably thought too much about it," Chloe confessed. "This has been going on for some time for me, Beca, this wondering whether you felt anything for me, or whether you would rather be with Jesse... I... at first, I didn't even let myself know how much I liked you... there was still my crush on Aubrey, there was still Marc... I couldn't... wouldn't consider anything beyond a friendship with you... although my actions may have spoken a different language," she blushed slightly.  
"Oh, you mean walking into someone's shower isn't your usual way of inviting them to auditions?" Beca laughed.  
"No, that was special treatment just for you," Chloe gave back, winking. "I really like you, Beca, really really like you. And just so there are no misunderstandings: you did ask me on a date to that art showing, right?"  
"Oh, you bet I did!" Chloe smiled.  
"Good, because I'm going to hold your hand when we walk into that room, and I'll probably lean over to you a lot, whispering my uninformed opinions into your ear, and maybe giving you a kiss - all in good taste, of course, in the right place, at the right time." Beca giggled at the bubble of happy that filled her up. She just couldn't understand what she had done right in this life to deserve even a moment of this. Of Chloe smiling at her, of her saying she wanted to be with her - in the open as her girlfriend. It was all so much but Beca felt that she craved even more of this. It was really addictive.  
"I'm so looking forward to it," she said. She leaned over and touched her lips to Chloe's. They kissed for some minutes, trying to get used to this thrill it gave them but not yet getting there.  
"So... you want this too, right? The... openness of it? We're not gonna hide in a closet?" Beca shook her head.  
"I don't even know what that means, Chlo. I mean... I don't know that I want to put a label on myself, like lesbian... you can if you want but I'm not there yet... I don't know if I ever will be. But I want to be with you, exclusively. I want to go on dates, kiss you whenever I see you on campus, hold your hand, all those cheesy things that..." Beca hesitated but then continued "that lovers do."  
Chloe smiled.  
"Lovers. Now that sounds promising," she leaned in again and captured Beca's lips passionately. She pulled the brunette close, their bodies touching. After a few minutes, and quite a bit of moaning and touching, they parted again.  
"Whoa," Beca breathed.  
"And don't you forget it," Chloe teased and giggled. "I want all those things, too, you know. I have been casual-dating since I started studying and it was nice. But I think I was just waiting for someone special, someone for me. I think you're for me, Beca. Does that sound... weird?" Beca shook her head.  
"No, I get it because I think you're for me, too," they smiled at each other.  
"Definitely," Chloe confirmed.  
There was another round of kissing and tentative touching, then they just lay for a while, looking at each other, smiling, wondering how they could be this lucky, feel this good.  
"We got to tell the Bellas," Chloe then said. "They should be the first to know."  
"Ahhhh, they might be the second... or even third to know," Beca stammered and Chloe looked at her questioningly. "Well, Jesse already knows."  
"You told him before you told me?" Chloe asked and she didn't sound very happy.  
"I ran into him as I was on my way to Gibson. He... wanted to ask me out again, I had to stop this. Once and for all. So, I was honest... he didn't take it very well," Beca said and sighed. Chloe carressed her cheek.  
"Did he say something... something not nice?" She asked but Beca shook her head.  
"No, he just turned and walked away. But the look on his face... I think I broke his heart a little," Beca looked sad and felt bad about it. She didn't want to be sad, she wanted to be happy. But happiness didn't exist in a vacuum, not as long as there were people close to her, people she cared about. At least, the Bellas would be happy for them, or would they?  
"You think the girls will be okay with this?" Beca squeezed Chloe's fingers that were intertwined with hers.  
"Oh, I think they will be... they're our friends, they want us to be happy," Chloe felt very confident about this.  
"Even Aubrey?"  
"Especially Aubrey," Chloe confirmed. Beca nodded but wasn't convinced about the Bellas captain. Aubrey didn't like her much and it wasn't really a secret. Maybe she wouldn't want her best friend to be with someone like Beca, someone rebellious, someone who wore 'ear-monstrosities.'  
"Don't worry, Aubrey will be fine," Chloe said and gave her another lingering kiss.  
"If you say so." Chloe laughed. She pushed Beca onto her back and cuddled up to her side, her head coming to rest on the brunette's chest, her arm draped across her middle.  
"I have one question, though," Beca said after awhile. Chloe raised her head and looked questioningly at her... girlfriend? "How did you get Kimmy Jin to like you?"  
"What?!" Chloe laughed. "Kimmy Jin? I don't think she likes me," the redhead declared.  
"Oh, yes, she does. She actually told me to 'Go get the girl,'" Beca had to laugh at the incredulous look she received from Chloe at her words.  
"She did not!"  
"Oh, yes, she did. She said that my face lights up like Christmas morning whenever I get a text from you," Beca said with a smile which felt altogether alien and to happy for Beca Mitchell but also too good to suppress. Chloe laughed.  
"Your roommate is whack!" She exclaimed. "But she's pretty cool, too. Maybe we should coax her to join the Bellas," she suggested.  
"Yeah, I bet she would love that. Just imagine her looking at Aubrey in that way she has... Bree would go nuts," Beca laughed evilly. "Maybe just for that we should ask Kimmy Jin to join." Chloe gave her a light smack on the stomach.  
"You're naughty," she said and Beca laughed some more. But not alone.  
"When do we have to leave for practice?" Beca asked after another while in which they were just cuddling and sharing occasional kisses.  
"Half an hour," Chloe answered after a look at her alarm clock.  
"Do you want to grab something to eat beforehand?"  
"We could eat some cake," Chloe didn't really want to go out just yet, or get up for that matter. She felt completely content with her current position, very comfortably entwined with Beca.  
"Or we could just keep lying here until we have to go?" Beca interpreted Chloe's words correctly.  
"Or we could just keep lying here until we have to go," Chloe confirmed.  
"Good enough for me," Beca said and they spent the next half hour like they had spent the half hour before that: cuddling, kissing and teasing each other.


	14. Chapter 14

Epilogue

"We're late," Chloe said as they almost jogged towards the auditorium where they practiced with the Bellas.  
"They're lucky you got me to get up from your bed at all," Beca answered and grinned up at the redhead. At the same time she tugged at her hand, pulling her to a stop and then close. Their lips came together by unspoken consent and quite naturally as minutes passed and the need to make it to the practice flew out the window.  
"I could get addicted to this," Chloe whispered.  
"You mean you're not yet?" Beca teased and the redhead giggled.  
"Maybe I'm in that phase where I'm still denying my addiction." They kissed again, and again.  
"Let's go back to your place," Beca tempted and was about to pull Chloe into that direction but the taller girl didn't budge.  
"No, we're almost there and we're going to tell them."  
"It's not that I don't wanna tell them, it's... I wanna be alone with you some more, please?" Beca was begging and knew it.  
"You're quite the cuddler, you know that? And a kisser, and a toucher..." Chloe giggled as the brunette blushed.  
"Yeah, well, if asked I will liberally confess that that's your fault. You make me do all those things..." Beca pushed her arms around Chloe's waiste and pulled her to her. She knew that Chloe was right, that now that she had started to... feel Chloe, she was very reluctant to let go. And Chloe didn't make it any easier, effortlessly finding some very interesting buttons to push that kept Beca on edge, dizzily balancing between arousal and emotions she had never had before.  
"That's good," Chloe murmured as Beca found a sensitive spot on her neck to kiss. "And now I'ma gonna make you go to practice and tell everyone that... I'm your girlfriend." The word made Beca look up; Chloe had chosen it quite deliberately.   
"You are?" Chloe nodded.  
"I'm yours, and you're mine," she confirmed. Beca grinned.  
"I am," she nodded.  
They linked hands again and resumed their way to the auditorium. When Beca pushed the door open, everyone was looking up at them.  
"You're late," Aubrey immediately said. For a moment she seemed to consider reading them the riot act but instead she just looked at them thoughtfully. She looked at their smiling faces, at their linked hands and knew... she knew Chloe too well to not see the happiness radiating from her, and she could read the same even more clearly in Beca - as the snarky, wise-cracking persona seemed to have gone and been replaced with someone softer, someone who couldn't keep their eyes off Aubrey's best friend.  
"We know and we're sorry. It's just... we have to tell you something and we wanted all of you to be here..." Chloe pulled Beca into their little circle, just next to Aubrey who stepped aside a little.  
"Are you joining the Trebles?" Amy asked and everybody looked at her.  
"The Trebles?" Beca shook her head.  
"No? Well, it was just a guess...," she tapered off.  
"We are dating?" Chloe said, grinning proudly at the other women.  
"Trebles?" Amy asked again. Aubrey sighed dramatically.  
"Each other," she groused and rolled her eyes. Beca and Chloe looked at her. "That's what you were saying, right?"  
"Yeah, that's... we're dating, each other. Chloe's my girlfriend," Beca confirmed proudly.  
"Even I didn't see that coming," Cynthia Rose exclaimed. "But good for you," she grinned.  
"Thank you, Cynthia Rose," Chloe smiled and it seemed to just spread over the whole room.  
"So, how did that happen, I mean... I thought you liked that Jesse-kid," Stacie stage-whispered that last part with a sly look at Aubrey.  
"Jesse and I are just friends..."  
"But you went on a date, I have that on good authority," Amy piped up but then caught Aubrey's look and added in a smaller voice, "or not so good an authority. Bumper really doesn't know anything... "  
"It wasn't a date, it was two friends going to the movies... and one of them mistunderstanding the situation," Beca informed her friends.  
"Did he try to get into your pants? Did you punch him in the face?" Lily whispered and everybody just looked at her awkwardly because nobody had understood.  
"So, how did this happen?" Stacie repeated her question from earlier.  
"Oh, yeah, tell your little love tale," Amy pleaded and everybody leaned forward eager to hear. Chloe looked at Aubrey who gave her a small smile and then grabbed a chair next to Lilly.  
"Well... you know how we met, at the activities fair. I thought Beca was cute..."  
"You thought I was cute?" Beca asked, blushing slightly but also unable to keep the grin off her face.  
"You are cute. And I thought it would be nice to have you on the Bellas... but then you said you couldn't sing and weren't interested... so... I was a little disappointed," Chloe confessed. "Until I heard you sing and I knew I had to get you to audition," she smiled brightly. Beca grinned evilly.  
"So, that's why you stalked me in the shower?" she asked, knowing well that Chloe would rather have kept this particular information between them. But Beca saw her chance to make Chloe blush and it was such a rare sight that she had to go for it. And Chloe did indeed blush, her eyes sparkling even more than usual.  
"Now this I wann hear. Did anyone bring any popcorn, by any chance? No?" Amy asked but was mainly ignored as everybody looked up at Chloe in various degrees of shock and admiration.  
"I didn't stalk you. I was already there, in the showers..."  
"With Marc," Beca reminded her.  
"Yes, with Marc," and with a look at her audience, she said: "It wasn't as kinky as it sounds. Marc was messaging my neck, it gets very... hard...," she stopped, seeing the amused faces of her friends.  
"I will get you for this, Mitchell," she promised.  
"Oh, get on with the tale already," Cynthia Rose said a little too eagerly and everybody looked at her, "What? I mean, this is porn..."  
"It's not porn. Beca was singing Titanium which happens to be one of my... favorite songs. And I had to know who was singing and so... I went into her shower... and made her sing it for me," Chloe explained. It sounded indeed a little like porn - and if she recalled correctly what Beca's voice singing her jam did to her...  
"While we were both naked," Beca added with a grin.  
"If that's not porn, I don't know what is," Cynthia Rose murmured.  
"She's right, you know," Stacie agreed.  
"It wasn't all that sexual," Chloe defended lamely. "We were just singing." But all the women in the room knew how music could affect the body, how sensual it could be, how intimate and stimulating.  
"It was a little sexy," Beca confessed which earned her a smile from Chloe who saw her whole argument undermined but was still happy that Beca had felt it, too.  
"So, when did you fall for the redhead?" Ashley asked Beca. The DJ seemed to think about it.  
"I think I fell for her when I came into my dorm room after my short gig in prison... and you were all there... and...." now it was Beca's turn to blush. Chloe looked intently at her, biting her bottom lip in an attempt to keep the emotions in but they practically leapt out at Beca out of Chloe's eyes. They just looked at each other. Chloe lifted her hand and carressed Beca's cheek.  
"Awwww..." they heard some of their friends coo and couldn't even have said who it was.  
"Anyways...," Beca said and shook herself lose from the intense stare from blue eyes. "...I guess the connection was there from the beginning... just... it took us a while to realize it. And just for the record," the DJ looked at Aubrey, "I may have had a toner but it was never for Jesse." There were catcalls at this. Chloe pulled Beca close and kissed her.  
"Yeah, I can see that," Aubrey smiled and looked pointedly at Beca's crotch. Cynthia Rose whistled, and the others laughed.  
"I know," Beca laughed. She put her arms around her girlfriend and pulled her close. Amy saw this as an invitation for a free for all and got up.  
"You two are so precious," she said and wrapped her arms around them.  
"Group hug," Stacie called out and joined them.   
Everybody joined the hug, even Aubrey finally put her arms around Jessica and Denise. She caught Beca's eyes through the mess of heads and hair and held it for a moment. Beca looked questioningly.  
"Alright, everyone. I have something I want to say... or discuss," Aubrey broke up the huddle and everybody resumed their earlier seats with Beca and Chloe sitting down as well, next to each other, holding hands. Beca raised her eyebrows at the word 'discuss,' it wasn't really one Aubrey used a lot. Usually it was just her 'telling' them.  
"I have thought about... our routine for the Semi's. I've been thinking about some of the changes since... we rearranged the group and you all joined. And the old set isn't working so well, anymore," she finally got out.  
"No kidding," Cynthia Rose agreed. Aubrey shot her a look, this was hard enough for her. She had built her whole aca-career on the rules that Alice had practically carved into her flesh, and they went well with the convictions of her father. She hadn't questioned either yet but this was her last year and she wanted to create something new, for herself but most importantly for all of the current Bellas. They weren't model types, they weren't all the same, they were better than that - and they could sing. It was time that they all sang together.  
"Well, I have been thinking about some of the things Beca said and I think... she's right," she pushed through her teeth.  
"Looks painful the way you say it," Beca said and smiled. Aubrey couldn't help the surprised laugh that escaped her as she tried to look stern.  
"It is," she confirmed and everybody else relaxed visibly. "I don't want to overthrow all the rules this group is build on. I think we should stick to songs by female artists, songwriters and singers but maybe we can include some newer songs," she looked questioningly at Beca who contemplated her words.  
"Are you serious?" she asked.  
"Dixie Chicks serious." The two former rivals locked eyes.  
"Sounds good to me," Beca finally agreed.  
"There's a lot of music out there by women. It's not like we are going to run out of music," Aubrey was still arguing her point. Beca's smile finally made her aware that she had already agreed, that they would do what Aubrey had suggested. Aubrey smiled.  
"We could include some music by women of color," Cynthis Rose said and Aubrey nodded.  
"Of course," she said.  
"I like Madonna, oh, and Britney Spears," Amy said. Beca looked around at her a little shocked but Amy just laughed.  
"Dolly Parton," Stacie said.  
"I like Nancy Sinatra," Denise piped up.  
"Rihanna, girls, Rihanna." There were more names of singers and quite a number of songs, then they began singing and throwing around ideas. Some were good, others ridiculous but they were working all together. And as they finally broke up the practice, way later than usual and in far better spirit, Beca went over to Aubrey and hugged her. The blonde stiffened for only a second before she answered the hug in kind. As Beca was about to let go again, she heard the tall Bella whisper into her ear:  
"If you hurt her, I will end you," Beca looked at Aubrey surprised but then smiled.  
"And what will you do if she hurts me?" The DJ asked.  
"Then I will end her," Aubrey gave back without missing a beat. Chloe came over, and slipped her hand into Beca's.  
"You coming with us?" She asked her girlfriend.  
"I don't know. I don't have anything to sleep in, and just fyi, your sleeping shirt is also still over at my place."  
"Hmmm, then maybe we'll have to sleep naked," Chloe stage-whispered and Aubrey rolled her eyes.  
"TMI," she told her friends but smiled.


End file.
